Position paper: Digital Learning Technologies for ESOL Learners

This paper provides The Bell Foundation's current position on the role that digital provision can play in English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) provision in the UK.

The question of how digital technologies can best support ESOL learners arises at a crucial moment in adult education policy reform, specifically as the Government is currently undertaking a review of ESOL qualifications and provision.

In this paper we set out why a more nuanced approach – that is pedagogically-informed, and thought-out – is needed for the use of digital tools to teach ESOL to adult learners. The paper presents the capabilities and potential of digital tools for supporting English language learning in the context of adult education, and what is genuinely gained and may be lost when digital tools are positioned as a substitute rather than a supplement to college and community ESOL classes.

Please note that we will be publishing a longer publication setting out our thinking and recommendations in further detail later in 2026.