Switching a Greggs sausage roll and cardboard cup of coffee for a croissant in a café on the streets of Lille, France is a reality most of us would dream for. However, for Anna Murati this reality came crashing down when she was informed, during her year abroad, that her university would be discontinuing her degree.
Anna is a third-year student at The University of Nottingham studying Modern Languages. A degree which could potentially be abolished by this time next year.
Currently studying in Lille, Anna explained how it came as a surprise to her to find out this news when she wasn’t even in the same country. She said: “I actually found out through one of my friends who is also on their year abroad, she received an email from our course saying basically they’re thinking of suspending future language courses as well as other courses.
“I think a lot of people found out through Instagram, but I actually found out through one of my friends through an email.”
Anna had no suspicion of her course ever being under threat of being diminished when she made her decision to study abroad for her final year. “Such a shock, like I’m not even in the country and then I’m hearing that my degree, my course is potentially not going to exist anymore.”, She says.
“No, never thought that would happen ever.
“Our course is decently big so I never thought anything like this would have happened.
“I mean, I knew our university was struggling with funding, but I never really thought that the suspension of my degree and course would be a consequence of it.”
“We’re trying to fight against it. We’re signing petitions and many people back home have been protesting as well.”
Anna explained how she worries about what the repercussions will be for the UK if this downward trend of studying languages continues.
So, what is happening to the prospect of studying Languages across the UK?
The availability of language degrees and courses across the UK has been declining over recent years at a rapid rate. An investigation by the Higher Education Policy Institute found that Since 2014, 17 post-1992 universities no longer offer a modern languages degree, bringing the total closures to 28 with only 10 left in the UK providing the degree.
One university which has discontinued this degree in recent years is The University of Salford. Salford University got rid of its language degree last year and is considering removing its university wide language programme all together.
William Hope is Italian Lecturer at The University of Salford. He shared his concern for those currently in their first year of studying Language, particularly at Nottingham. William said: “as regards the quality of their course which may decline rapidly. Most of their full-time lecturers will already be looking for jobs elsewhere (after news like this).
“As programmes are “taught out” they are normally done so very cheaply.”
He expressed his concern for the decline of Language degrees across the UK, especially with jobs in mind: “I don’t see many future possibilities for language lecturers at H.E. level, unless the government intervenes and provides ring-fenced funding, which is unlikely.
“It means that Languages will increasingly be phased out at most universities and will only survive at places that are wealthy enough (and willing) to cross-subsidize them with income from other programmes. For example, Salford was not willing to.
“It’s deeply regrettable that by 2040, the number of universities that provide language provision will be a fraction of the total that did so in 2010.”
In 2024, the government failed to reach their target for Language Teacher Recruitment. Only fulfilling 46% of their hiring target and school and universities are finding it hard to retain language teachers, especially when the interest for their subject is declining.
So, is the demand for languages dying across the UK?
It certainly looks that way with less than 3% of A-levels taken last year being Modern foreign languages. Leaving students like Anna left feeling unsure about their future prospects.