UK — The University of Nottingham has proposed becoming the first Russell Group university to offer no modern foreign language degrees. The University of Exeter informed more than 70 languages academics and a total of 500 staff last week that they were at risk of redundancy.

The University of Exeter seeks to cut 150 full-time posts, predominantly in the humanities. David Blunkett, the Labour education secretary from 1997 to 2001, said: "Instead of the current tendency to go for retrenchment as the only way of balancing the books, we need universities to think really creatively. [Cutting courses] precludes you from a joined-up approach to learning. If you haven't got a language faculty any longer in the university, it can't link with tech and engineering, and digital, and all the other possibilities that now exist." Blunkett described cutting language degrees as "a missed opportunity" to improve social mobility.

Estelle Morris, former education secretary, said: "It's a terrible message – these are our country's leading universities. I'd like to think that they felt they had a role to play in the solution, not make it even worse. If Nottingham or anywhere else closes down a modern foreign language degree, middle-class children might go elsewhere. But working-class children won't." Morris added: "They will be more likely to choose a subject available to them locally. And then all the skills and job opportunities modern foreign languages give go out of the window because those pupils haven't taken a degree."

According to this year's Language Trends survey, languages are compulsory for all pupils at GCSE in 22% of state secondary schools, compared with 41% of independent schools. Lee Elliot Major, professor of social mobility at University of Exeter, said: "Schools need to recognise that languages are a powerful pipeline for social mobility. If state schools want to improve the life chances of all their pupils, they should be actively promoting language study." He also said: "GCSEs and A-levels in languages are a hidden passport to elite universities, a potential social mobility pathway that could transform many pupils' lives."

A Department for Education spokesperson said every child wanting to learn a language should be able to. The department is supporting the next generation of language teachers with tax-free financial incentives to train in key subjects including French, German and Spanish. It stated that universities are autonomous and make their own choices about courses. The department also stated that its decision to increase tuition fee caps will shore up university finances, enabling them to continue offering a breadth of courses, including languages.

Why It Matters

Required A-level grades at the most elite universities are on average two to three grades lower for single honours language degrees than other popular subjects, according to UCAS entry requirements data. Median entry requirements at Russell Group, Bath and St Andrews universities are A*AA for maths and economics, and AAA for law. Median entry requirements for French, German or Spanish degrees at those universities are ABB.