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There is strong evidence that competence in a foreign language is as vital a skill for working life as the scientific and technological skills that are regarded as so important for Britain's future.

 

The Born Global research study by the British Academy, probably the most in-depth study yet carried out of the interface between languages and employment drew on the views of more than 600 employers.  It found that UK nationals without language skills are losing out in the global employment market as a result of not having language skills.

The British Council claims that the lack of language skills is costing the UK “tens of billions in missed trade”.  75% of UK citizens feel they were not made aware of the potential career benefits that learning another language could bring, whilst they were at school.

More recently an article published in 'The Independent' on the 9th of April 2019  quotes research undertaken by the global employment website 'Indeed'. It highlights the fact that due to Brexit uncertainty, fewer EU nationals are looking for work in the UK. This has caused a recent "languages shortfall" on the employment market.  According to this study the overall demand for linguists has increased in recent years, leading to fears amongst employers that there will not be enough suitably skilled people to fill jobs in the near future. The study highlights  that  German is currently the most highly sought after language by British employers, followed by French with Mandarin being the third most popular language amongst companies seeking to recruit.

Other current studies quote Spanish and Arabic as being the other languages sought after by British employers.  Strength in languages will be very important in sustaining and developing future trade relations post-Brexit.

At St Brendan’s, we recognise the importance of languages and encourage all students to consider studying a language at College. To this end we have invested heavily in language learning and have a variety of qualifications that suit different students' needs.

We want our students to stand out from the crowd, to have better career opportunities and to have the ability to excel after leaving us. Leaning a language is a very powerful tool which directly increases job opportunities and opens new and exciting doors!

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