The UCML Summer Plenary, entitled “Modern Languages: The Bigger Picture” took place on Friday 9th July 2021.
The event was held via video conferencing. The AGM took place via Teams, while the workshops were held via Zoom.
Timing: 10am-4.00 pm
| Time | Activity |
| 10.00-11.30 | AGM |
| 11.30-12.50 | Virtual break |
| 12.50-13.00 | Log-on for e-workshop |
| 13.00-14.15 | UCML-British Academy UCAS Granularity Project Report |
| 14.15-14.45 | Virtual break |
| 14.45-16.00 | Another Long-Covid effect? Modifications to the national language curriculum, proposed policy changes and their potential impact on HE and Initial Teacher Education |
The morning (10 – 11.30 am) consisted of the Annual General Meeting, open to members of all UCML member organisations (see membership).
The AGM included reports from members of the UCML Steering Group, representatives of the three nations, and the representative for Early-Career Academics.
Afternoon Workshops
Session 1: UCML-British Academy UCAS Granularity Project Report
UCML and the British Academy have purchased UCAS admissions data pertaining to modern languages degrees covering the period 2012-2018. This data is more granular than the publicly available data, and includes all programmes with a language component, even if no language is named in the degree title. We have commissioned a data analyst to produce a report identifying trends in this data. In this session, the data analyst, Peter Webster, presented his findings. You can read the report here.
Respondents: Professor Neil Kenny, British Academy, and Professor Janice Carruthers, AHRC Leadership Fellow for Modern Languages
Session 2: Another Long-Covid effect? Modifications to the national language curriculum, proposed policy changes and their potential impact on HE and Initial Teacher Education
The second e-workshop looked at debates centred on Modern Languages in Schools in the UK, with contributions from Professor René Koglbauer (Newcastle; Association for Language Learning), Dr Liz Wren-Owens (Cardiff) and Dr Sharon Jones (Stranmillis University College), and was chaired by Professor Vicky Wright (Southampton).
Pre-Meeting Documents
UCML Plenary 9 July 2021 AGM Item 5 – VC Research
UCML Plenary 9 July 2021 AGM Item 9b – Scotland