Language learning guides

IELTS and TOEFL dominate conversations about English testing because of their role in university admissions and immigration, but a learner heading into international business rather than academic study is more likely to encounter a different test altogether: TOEIC, designed specifically around workplace communication rather than academic study.

What TOEIC actually measures

TOEIC, the Test of English for International Communication, is designed and maintained by ETS to measure the everyday English skills used by people working in an international environment. Rather than one single exam, ETS structures TOEIC as a set of separate assessments: the Listening and Reading test is a paired assessment of comprehension skills, while Speaking and Writing are assessed through their own separate tests. A lower-level version, TOEIC Bridge, exists for test takers at an earlier stage of proficiency and covers all four skills. This modular structure means an employer or training provider can choose to test only the skills relevant to a specific role, rather than requiring every candidate to sit every component.

How the scoring works

The Listening and Reading test produces a combined score out of a possible 990 points, built from two equally weighted sections. The Speaking and Writing tests are scored differently: ETS groups Speaking results into eight proficiency levels and Writing results into nine proficiency levels, rather than reporting a single combined numeric score the way Listening and Reading does. ETS also publishes tools aligning TOEIC results with the Common European Framework of Reference, and “Can-Do” guides describing what a test taker at a given score band should realistically be able to do in a work setting, which employers use alongside the raw score itself.

Why employers use it rather than an academic test

ETS positions TOEIC specifically as a workplace tool: corporations and government agencies use TOEIC scores to make hiring decisions and to check whether employees have the English communication skills needed for specific job responsibilities, including working in an English-speaking environment or communicating with international colleagues and clients. Because the test is built around this purpose, ETS also provides guidance linking score ranges to potential job roles, intended to help an employer judge whether a candidate’s English level matches what a particular position actually requires, rather than relying on a general academic benchmark that was not built with workplace tasks in mind.

How this differs from IELTS or TOEFL preparation

A learner preparing for TOEIC is training for workplace-style content: emails, meetings, reports, and everyday business interactions, rather than the academic lectures, essays and campus-life scenarios that IELTS Academic or TOEFL iBT are built around. A course or tutor experienced in general IELTS preparation will not automatically be well matched to TOEIC’s business-oriented material, and a candidate should confirm that any preparation course is actually built around TOEIC’s own content and scoring structure rather than assuming skills transfer directly from one test to another.

Common questions

Is TOEIC accepted for a UK student visa the way IELTS or a SELT is? No. TOEIC is a workplace-oriented ETS assessment rather than a Home Office-approved Secure English Language Test, so it does not substitute for a SELT on an immigration application; its role is with employers and training providers rather than visa applications.

Do I need to sit every TOEIC component? Not necessarily. Because ETS structures Listening and Reading separately from Speaking and Writing, an employer or course provider can choose to test only the skills that are actually relevant to a given role, rather than requiring a candidate to complete every available component.

How is a TOEIC score actually interpreted by an employer? ETS provides guides mapping score bands to potential job roles and to what a test taker at that level should realistically be able to do, and employers generally use these alongside the raw score rather than treating a single number in isolation.

Is a TOEIC score valid indefinitely? Test providers generally treat proficiency scores as a snapshot of ability at the time of testing rather than a permanent credential, so an employer relying on a TOEIC result for a current hiring decision will usually want a reasonably recent sitting rather than a score from many years earlier, in the same way most language proficiency tests are treated as time-limited evidence.

The bottom line

TOEIC is ETS’s dedicated workplace English test, built around Listening and Reading, and separately around Speaking and Writing, with a modular structure that lets an employer test only the skills relevant to a role. Its scoring, a 990-point scale for Listening and Reading and separate proficiency-level bands for Speaking and Writing, is designed to be mapped directly to job requirements through ETS’s own guidance, which is the main reason corporations and government agencies use it for hiring and internal assessment rather than defaulting to an academic English test built for university admissions.

Sources

• ETS, “Score Use for the TOEIC Tests” (eu.ets.org)

A GCSE in British Sign Language has been in development for years, sitting alongside existing routes such as Signature’s BSL qualifications, but it reached a genuine milestone in November 2025 when the qualification’s regulator finished setting the rules it will actually be assessed against.

What Ofqual confirmed

On 13 November 2025, Ofqual published its final decisions on the regulatory framework for the new GCSE in British Sign Language, following a public consultation that ran earlier in the year. Ofqual describes the qualification as assessing students’ ability to comprehend BSL, produce signs accurately, interact using BSL, and demonstrate understanding of the history of BSL, combining both exams and non-exam assessment within a single GCSE. Ofqual has framed the rules as designed to be appropriate for a GCSE aimed at new learners of the language, while also being as accessible as possible for students who already use BSL as their first or primary language, a dual purpose that has shaped much of the debate around how the qualification should be structured.

Why this GCSE needed its own rules rather than reusing existing ones

Modern foreign language GCSEs are built around spoken and written language skills that do not map directly onto a visual-spatial, signed language, which is why Ofqual ran a separate consultation on assessment rules specifically for BSL rather than simply extending the existing modern languages GCSE framework to cover it. The qualification’s origins go back to a 2018 decision by the Department for Education to introduce a BSL GCSE, followed by a 2023 consultation process in which Ofqual published its decisions on the qualification’s assessment structure that December, with the November 2025 announcement representing a further, more detailed stage of that regulatory process rather than its starting point.

What is not yet settled

Ofqual’s November 2025 announcement covers the rules exam boards must follow, not the qualification itself. Any exam board interested in offering the GCSE still has to develop its own specification and submit it to Ofqual for accreditation before the qualification can actually be taught in schools. That means, as of Ofqual’s own announcement, no confirmed first-teaching date had been set; the practical timeline depends on how quickly an exam board completes that development and accreditation process, which is a separate step from the regulatory framework Ofqual has now finalised.

How this differs from existing BSL qualifications

British Sign Language already has established qualifications available to learners, most notably through Signature’s suite of BSL awards used widely for workplace and personal-interest learning. A GCSE is a different kind of qualification: it sits within the national school curriculum framework used for other subjects at age 16, carries the same general recognition as other GCSEs for further study and employment purposes, and is assessed under Ofqual’s regulatory rules rather than a separate awarding body’s own framework. The two routes are not competitors so much as different tools, with the GCSE aimed primarily at school-age learners and Signature’s awards continuing to serve adult and workplace learners in the meantime.

Common questions

Can a school teach the BSL GCSE now? Not yet. Ofqual has finalised the rules a specification must meet, but an exam board still has to build and submit an actual specification for accreditation before any school can put students through it.

Will the GCSE replace Signature’s BSL qualifications? Nothing in Ofqual’s announcement suggests that. The GCSE is a school-curriculum qualification with its own regulatory framework, while Signature’s awards are a separate, long-established route used across schools, colleges and workplaces; the two are likely to continue to sit alongside one another.

Why did this take so long to finalise? Assessing a signed, visual-spatial language does not map onto the reading, writing, listening and speaking structure used for other language GCSEs, which is why a dedicated consultation and rule-setting process, running from the 2018 decision through to the November 2025 final rules, was needed rather than simply adapting an existing framework.

Does Ofqual regulate this qualification across the whole UK? Ofqual regulates qualifications in England; GCSEs are part of the English qualifications system specifically, so the rollout described here relates to schools in England rather than being an automatic UK-wide change.

The bottom line

Ofqual finalised the regulatory rules for a new GCSE in British Sign Language on 13 November 2025, confirming a qualification built around comprehension, production, interaction and understanding of BSL’s history, combining exams with non-exam assessment, and designed to work for both new learners and students who already use BSL as their first language. What remains outstanding is exam board development and accreditation of an actual specification, meaning no confirmed date exists yet for when the qualification will first be taught in schools. Anyone tracking this as an alternative to existing BSL awards should treat the regulatory framework as settled and the practical rollout as still in progress.

Sources

• Ofqual, “Ofqual announces rules for unique British Sign Language GCSE” (gov.uk)
• Ofqual, “Decisions: GCSE qualifications in British Sign Language” (gov.uk)

Learning Irish as an adult is often framed around cultural interest or a qualification such as TEG, but Irish also carries a specific legal status in the Republic of Ireland that shapes what a fluent speaker can actually expect from public bodies there, separate from anything covered by an exam syllabus.

What the 2003 Act actually establishes

The Official Languages Act 2003 was designed to promote the use of the Irish language for official purposes in the State and to provide for the use of both official languages, Irish and English, in parliamentary proceedings, Acts of the Oireachtas, the administration of justice, and public service communications. Irish is recognised as the first official language of the Republic of Ireland under the Constitution, with English recognised as a second official language, and the Act gives citizens a right to interact with the state in Irish if they choose, placing an obligation on public bodies to make their services available through Irish. The Act also established the office of An Coimisinéir Teanga, the Irish Language Commissioner, to monitor and enforce public bodies’ compliance with these obligations independently of central government.

New obligations from December 2024

Amendments to the Act introduced new, more specific obligations for public bodies that took effect from 21 December 2024. One is a social media rule: where a member of the public contacts a public body in Irish through a social media channel, the body must now respond in Irish, extending a requirement that previously applied only to written and email correspondence. A second set of provisions covers Irish-language names and addresses, requiring public bodies to accommodate Irish versions of names, including the síneadh fada accent mark, in official forms and records, although the specific bodies and forms affected depend on further ministerial designation before the requirement takes full effect. A third change affects logos: when a public body creates or renews its branding, the logo text must appear in Irish, or in both Irish and English with equal prominence, a rule that applies both to existing bodies updating their branding and to newly established statutory bodies from the outset.

A staffing target looking toward 2030

Alongside these public-facing obligations, the Irish government has set a target for the composition of the public service itself: 20% of new recruits to public bodies are intended to be competent in Irish by the end of 2030. This is a recruitment target aimed at future hiring rather than a requirement retroactively imposed on staff already in post, and it sits alongside, rather than replacing, the service-delivery obligations the Act places on public bodies toward the public.

Why this matters for a learner, not just a citizen

For someone learning Irish with practical goals, such as working in or engaging with Irish public services, the Act’s real-world effect is that a public body cannot simply decline to deal with a query made in Irish, whether that query arrives by letter, email or, since the 2024 changes, social media. An Coimisinéir Teanga’s role as an independent enforcement mechanism, rather than a body purely reliant on political will, is what gives this a genuine legal dimension rather than a symbolic one, and it is worth understanding separately from any language qualification a learner might be working toward.

Common questions

Does this mean every Irish public body must have Irish-speaking staff? Not directly. The Act obliges public bodies to respond in Irish to Irish-language communications and to meet other service duties, and the 20% recruitment target is aimed at building that capacity over time, rather than the Act itself mandating a fixed proportion of Irish-speaking staff in every body immediately.

What can someone do if a public body ignores their Irish-language letter or social media message? An Coimisinéir Teanga exists specifically to receive and investigate complaints about non-compliance with the Act, operating independently of the public bodies it oversees, which is what gives the obligation practical teeth beyond a general statement of policy.

Does the Act apply in Northern Ireland? No. The Official Languages Act 2003 is legislation of the Oireachtas and applies within the Republic of Ireland; Irish-language provision in Northern Ireland runs through separate legislation.

The bottom line

The Official Languages Act 2003 gives Irish a specific, enforceable legal status in the Republic of Ireland, requiring public bodies to provide services in Irish and creating an independent commissioner to enforce compliance. Amendments effective from 21 December 2024 extended this to social media responses, to accommodating Irish-language names and addresses in official records, and to bilingual or Irish-only logos for public bodies. A separate, non-binding-on-existing-staff target aims for 20% of new public service recruits to be competent in Irish by the end of 2030. None of this is contingent on any particular language qualification; it is a standing legal framework that operates whether or not an individual has taken a formal Irish exam.

Sources

• Mason Hayes & Curran, “Additional Irish Language Obligations for Public Bodies” (mhc.ie)
• Law Reform Commission, “Official Languages Act 2003 (revised)” (revisedacts.lawreform.ie)

Scots is sometimes assumed to be a dialect of English rather than a language with its own legal recognition, and sometimes confused with Scottish Gaelic, a separate Celtic language with its own distinct statutory framework. Both assumptions miss what the actual recognition of Scots looks like.

Charter recognition, but at a lighter level

The European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages was adopted by the Council of Europe in 1992 to protect historical, regional and minority languages. The UK government signed it in 2000 and ratified it in 2001 in respect of Welsh in Wales, Gaelic in Scotland, Scots in Scotland and Northern Ireland, and Irish in Northern Ireland. The key detail is that Scots was ratified only under Part II of the Charter, which is a general statement of objectives and principles rather than a set of binding, specific commitments. Part III, which sets out concrete measures to actively promote a language’s use, was applied to Welsh, Gaelic and Irish, but not to Scots. In practice, this means Scots has formal Charter recognition as a language in its own right, but without the same enforceable promotional obligations that apply to Gaelic.

Why this differs from Scottish Gaelic

Scottish Gaelic sits under its own dedicated legislation, the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005, which established Bòrd na Gàidhlig and created a statutory framework for Gaelic language plans across public bodies. Scots has no equivalent dedicated Act; its position rests on the lighter Part II Charter ratification and on Scottish Government policy commitments made administratively rather than through primary legislation specific to the language. Advocates for Scots have continued to push for the UK government to extend Part III recognition to Scots, matching the stronger protection already given to Gaelic, Welsh and Irish, but that upgrade has not been made.

What the Scottish Government has actually committed to

Scottish Government policy on Scots sets out practical commitments that operate independently of the Charter’s minimum requirements. These include promoting Scots through Curriculum for Excellence, with practitioners expected to build on the language diversity already present in Scotland’s communities, and maintaining a network of Scots coordinators within Education Scotland to support how the policy is implemented in schools. Education Scotland has also committed to accepting and valuing any form of communication in Scots and to introducing trilingual signage, alongside English and Gaelic, as its own corporate materials are renewed.

Where an adult learner starts

Because Scots does not have the same centralised adult-qualification infrastructure as Gaelic, most adult engagement with the language happens through community, literary and cultural routes rather than a single national curriculum for adult learners. The Scottish Government’s own policy commitment extends to ensuring its Adult Learning Statement of Ambition takes account of Scots language and culture, which signals intent rather than a specific qualification pathway of the kind that exists for Gaelic or Welsh.

Common questions

Is Scots the same as Ulster Scots? No, though they are closely related. The Charter ratification covers Scots “in Scotland and Northern Ireland” and Ulster Scots is generally treated as the variety spoken in parts of Northern Ireland, with its own separate cultural and institutional structures there rather than being administered through the Scottish Government’s Scots language policy.

Does Part II recognition give Scots any legal protection at all? Yes, but it is principle-based rather than a set of specific enforceable duties. Part II commits the government to general objectives, such as respecting the language and facilitating its use, without the concrete promotional measures, such as guaranteed education provision, that Part III requires for Gaelic, Welsh and Irish.

Could Scots eventually get Part III recognition? That would require a UK government decision to extend its Charter commitments; campaigners have continued to call for this, but as of the most recent Scottish Government policy statement, Scots remains at Part II only.

Do Scottish schools have to teach Scots? There is no separate statutory duty to teach Scots equivalent to the Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005; Scottish Government policy instead works through Curriculum for Excellence, expecting teachers to draw on the language diversity of their own communities rather than following a mandated Scots syllabus.

The bottom line

Scots has genuine, formal recognition as a language under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages, ratified by the UK government in 2001, but only at the lighter Part II level of general principles rather than the Part III level of binding promotional measures applied to Gaelic, Welsh and Irish. The Scottish Government has made its own administrative commitments to Scots in education and public life, run separately from any Charter obligation and separately from the dedicated statutory framework that exists for Gaelic under the 2005 Act. Anyone comparing the two languages’ institutional support should treat this Part II versus Part III distinction as the core legal difference, not an assumption that both languages are protected identically.

Sources

• Scottish Government, “Scots language policy” (gov.scot)
• Scots Language Centre, “The European Charter” (scotslanguage.com)

IELTS is the name most people associate with proving English ability for a UK visa, but it is not the only option, and for some visa routes it is not even directly relevant, because the Home Office requires a Secure English Language Test, or SELT, from a specific shortlist of providers rather than IELTS by name.

Only five providers are approved

Official Home Office guidance sets out that only a Secure English Language Test from the IELTS SELT Consortium, LanguageCert, Pearson, Trinity College London or PSI Services is accepted for immigration purposes, and even then only when sat at an approved test location. Trinity College London’s SELT is approved for tests taken inside the UK, while PSI Services covers tests taken outside the UK; the IELTS SELT Consortium, LanguageCert and Pearson are approved both inside and outside the UK. A test from a provider not on this list, however similar it looks to an approved one, does not satisfy the requirement, regardless of the score achieved.

What Pearson and LanguageCert actually offer

Pearson’s SELT product is PTE Academic UKVI, a computer-delivered test assessing all four skills: speaking, writing, reading and listening. LanguageCert’s SELT is delivered as part of its International ESOL exam suite and, like other approved providers, is offered in different formats depending on which visa route it is being used for. Both are entirely separate from the general, non-SELT versions of these providers’ tests that some universities or employers accept for other purposes; only the specific SELT-branded version, taken at an approved centre, meets the Home Office’s immigration requirement.

Two-skill versus four-skill tests

Home Office guidance splits SELTs into two categories. Tests assessing reading, writing, speaking and listening are required for routes including Skilled Worker, Student, Start-up and Health and Care Worker visas. Tests assessing speaking and listening only are used for other routes, such as settlement, citizenship, and partner or parent visas, where the requirement is narrower. Booking the wrong category, for example a two-skill test for a route that requires all four skills, is a common and avoidable cause of application problems, because the test result will not match what the specific route requires.

The level required depends on the route, not the provider

Which CEFR level is needed, from A1 through to B2, depends on the immigration route being applied for rather than which of the five approved providers is chosen; the guidance is explicit that applicants need to check the specific guidance for their route to find the required level. A Skilled Worker or Student route typically needs a higher level than a first family visa, and settlement or citizenship applications sit at their own separate threshold, so the right test booking is really a combination of provider, skill coverage and CEFR level rather than a single choice.

Why this matters for course planning

A learner preparing for a SELT should confirm, before booking any preparation course, which of the five approved providers’ specific SELT product matches their visa route, since a course built around general IELTS preparation will not necessarily prepare someone for the different format of a LanguageCert or PTE Academic UKVI SELT sitting, or for a two-skill test where only speaking and listening are assessed.

Common questions

Can I use a general IELTS or PTE score I already have for immigration purposes? No. Only the specific SELT-branded version of a test from an approved provider, taken at an approved test location, satisfies the Home Office requirement; a standard academic or general test from the same provider is not automatically interchangeable with it.

Does it matter which of the five providers I choose? For most routes, any of the five approved providers can be used as long as the correct skill coverage and CEFR level for that specific route are booked, so the choice often comes down to test availability, format preference or location rather than one provider being universally required.

What happens if I book the wrong type of test? A mismatch between the test booked and what the immigration route actually requires, such as booking a speaking-and-listening-only test for a route that needs all four skills, means the result will not satisfy the requirement, so it is worth checking the specific route guidance before paying for any test.

The bottom line

UKVI accepts Secure English Language Tests from exactly five providers: the IELTS SELT Consortium, LanguageCert, Pearson, Trinity College London and PSI Services, with Trinity limited to UK test centres and PSI to centres outside the UK. Pearson’s PTE Academic UKVI and LanguageCert’s SELT products sit alongside IELTS as genuine alternatives, but the right choice depends on matching the correct skill coverage, either four skills or speaking-and-listening only, and the correct CEFR level to the specific immigration route being applied for, not simply picking whichever test is most familiar.

Sources

• GOV.UK, “Prove your English language abilities with a Secure English Language Test (SELT)”

Wales makes its own ESOL policy

Wales publishes its own policy for English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL). The English position is explained in Free ESOL Classes in England: How Government-Funded Adult English Provision Works. This article summarises the Welsh Government’s “English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) policy for Wales” (first published 19 June 2014, updated in November 2019) and “A review of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) policy for Wales”, published on 20 July 2023 with an executive summary. The review reports fieldwork carried out between February and July 2022. It covers Wales only.

What the policy says ESOL is

The 2019 policy defines ESOL as provision for learners whose first language is neither English nor Welsh and who have come to live in the UK. It separates ESOL from English as a Foreign Language (for people in the UK temporarily to study), English for Academic Purposes (support for international students) and English as an Additional Language (support for young people, available only in schools). It states that ESOL has parity with other essential skills, including literacy, numeracy and digital literacy, and calls it essential for integration. The policy links ESOL to Wales’s aim to be a Nation of Sanctuary for refugees and asylum seekers.

Who delivers it

The policy says ESOL in Wales is delivered by a number of organisations in the public, private and third sectors, and that the Welsh Government provides funding to local authorities and further education institutions to deliver mainstream provision, which it calls “funded providers”. Mainstream provision includes full-time and part-time classes at a range of levels, mostly accredited, alongside a significant amount of informal provision that the government also supports. The policy adds that it does not specify the qualifications needed by tutors but that the sector generally expects ESOL tutors to hold at least a Level 5 equivalent qualification.

How long progress takes

The policy cites a 2011 review by ESOL consultant Dr Philida Schellekens, which established that it would take an average of 1,765 guided learning hours for learners to progress from pure beginner level to a point where they could study another subject or take on a job with routine communication requirements. On that basis, the policy estimates that a full-time further education student at 450 guided learning hours a year would need almost four years to reach Level 1, an adult learning English ten hours a week over 30 weeks a year would need five years and seven months, and an adult learning four hours a week over 30 weeks would need 14 and a half years. These are estimates derived from that 2011 review, not guarantees for any individual.

Assessment and the REACH pilot

The policy highlights the Regional ESOL Assessment Central Hub, or REACH, a pilot run by Cardiff and Vale College and Adult Learning Wales. It acts as a referral point across Cardiff for organisations and ESOL delivery partners, assesses people who want to enrol and assigns them to suitable provision, with the aim of reducing waiting lists and improving progression. The policy says there were plans to roll the project out to other parts of Wales.

What the 2023 review found

The review examined how well formal ESOL in Wales offers adequate and timely support, using a survey sent to more than 150 organisations, forums, interviews and focus groups. It grouped findings around funding and infrastructure, awareness and access, online and blended learning, curriculum and quality, workforce development, Welsh-language provision and employment. Its main points include:

• Funding. Providers reported that the funding mechanism lacks flexibility, that tying funding to a prescribed syllabus and assessments contributes to waiting lists for new arrivals, and that non-completion, which is more common among ESOL learners partly because moving into work interrupts study, reduces funding.
• Awareness and access. Respondents reported a lack of communication and co-ordination between providers, called for a Wales-wide platform listing provision, and identified lack of crèche and childcare facilities as a major barrier. The review also noted a need for more clarity on eligibility for funding and what provision is free to access.
• Online learning. Remote and blended provision has potential for higher-level learners, but the review found face-to-face teaching essential for learners who are not literate in their first language.
• Workforce. It found a lack of a suitably trained ESOL workforce.
• Employment. Providers reported a wish for more vocational ESOL, and colleges said small cohorts made ESOL+ courses hard to develop.

The report’s recommendations include a task group to review the funding model, funding for non-accredited conversation-led and intensive courses, ESOL co-ordinating groups aligned with Adult Community Learning Partnerships, a national platform for ESOL and Welsh for speakers of other languages, and a review of crèche facilities at formal providers.

Welsh language options

The review reports some progress on Welsh for speakers of other languages (WSOL), with some providers offering it or embedding Welsh in provision. It says the National Centre for Learning Welsh created a “Croeso i Bawb” taster course and adopted a policy that every Learn Welsh taster course is free for all learners, which allows Croeso i Bawb to be offered free of charge to migrants, refugees and asylum seekers. Learning Welsh more generally is covered in Learning Welsh: Cymraeg i Oedolion and the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011.

What a learner can do

• Contact a local college, adult learning provider or local authority to ask about ESOL classes and assessment.
• Ask which classes are accredited and which are informal, since both exist.
• Ask about childcare and any waiting list before enrolling.

The bottom line

ESOL in Wales is delivered by funded colleges and local authorities alongside third-sector and informal providers, under a policy that treats English for adult migrants as an essential skill. The Welsh Government’s own 2023 review found strong dedication among educators but weaknesses in funding flexibility, co-ordination, childcare, workforce training and vocational pathways, and recommended a national platform to make provision easier to find.

Sources

• Welsh Government, “English for speakers of other languages (ESOL): policy statement” (gov.wales)
• Welsh Government, “English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) policy for Wales” (PDF, updated November 2019) (gov.wales)
• Welsh Government, “A review of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) policy for Wales: executive summary” (gov.wales)
• Welsh Government, “English for speakers of other languages (ESOL): policy review” (published 20 July 2023) (gov.wales)

The language of a Crown Dependency

Jèrriais is the traditional language of Jersey, which is a Crown Dependency and not part of the United Kingdom. The Government of Jersey describes it as closely related to French and as having once been the island’s first language. This article summarises three government pages: “Jèrriais: Jersey’s traditional language”, the “Jèrriais Language Strategy 2022 to 2025” and a government blog post of 18 May 2023 by the head of the Jèrriais Teaching Service. It covers Jersey only. The figures quoted are dated, and each is attributed to the page and year it comes from.

What the government says about speakers

The government’s language page gives the 2001 census count: 2,874 people, 3% of the population, spoke Jèrriais, and around 15% had some understanding of the language. That count is more than two decades old. The strategy’s foreword states that Jèrriais remains endangered and needs significant ongoing support to survive, and describes the 20th century as enormously hard on the language. The strategy’s stated immediate challenge is to establish a critical mass of learners while stabilising and ultimately reversing the decline in the number of speakers.

Official status

The strategy foreword by the Assistant Minister with responsibility for culture says that a States Assembly amendment ensured that Jèrriais became one of three official languages of the States. It says the government has a responsibility to use the public sector to promote Jèrriais, which explains the appearance of the language on letterheads and signs, and that work was under way to seek ratification of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in respect of Jèrriais. Those points are as stated in the strategy, which was written for the period 2022 to 2025.

Children’s lessons

According to the government page, before the 1960s there was no Jèrriais education in schools, and Jèrriais lessons are now offered in all States primary schools and some private and secondary schools. The Jèrriais Teaching Service provides sessions, some as “pallions” or after-school clubs, and schools are offered the Alentou d’Jèrri cross-curricular programme, in which children learn about Jersey’s history, geography, culture, heritage, music, dance and folklore with Jèrriais woven throughout. The 2023 blog reports that the number of Jèrriais learners grew to over 1,000, compared with just over 150 in the 2020 to 2021 academic year.

Adult lessons and apps

The government page says online and in-person Jèrriais lessons are available for adult learners from beginner to proficient, and gives L’Office du Jèrriais as the contact. The 2023 blog adds that Jèrriais was added to the uTalk language-learning app in June 2022, voiced by native speakers, and that a free licence covering Jèrriais and nine other languages could be obtained via the learnjerriais.org.je site. It also lists weekly café conversation groups in St Martin, St Helier and St Ouen, meeting from 10.30am, which were running in 2023. Anyone planning to attend should check current details with L’Office du Jèrriais, since the blog reports the situation in spring 2023.

What the strategy aims to do for learners

The strategy sets five themes: language acquisition, language use, language status, language corpus and language planning. Under acquisition, its aims include increasing the number of children and young people learning Jèrriais, developing opportunities for very young children in pre-schools and nurseries, securing a place for Jèrriais in the Jersey Curriculum, increasing the number of adults learning through a further-developed adult education programme, and creating a digital platform including a learning app and online resource. Aim 1.3 is to work towards accredited qualifications by working with other minority language groups to explore a GCSE-equivalent qualification in Jèrriais. The strategy names initiatives such as an early-years programme, a cross-curricular programme in schools and online lessons for adults and younger students. It also records that the Government Plan 2020 to 2023 funded the Jèrriais teaching service for up to seven staff.

The strategy is titled as the plan for 2022 to 2025.

What this means for a learner

• A learner in Jersey has an official teaching service, adult lessons and free app access.
• The strategy speaks of exploring an accredited qualification, so learners looking for a certificate should ask L’Office du Jèrriais what exists now.

Other minority-language guides on this site include Learning Scottish Gaelic and Learning Welsh, and general format advice appears in How to Choose a Language Course: Matching Format to Your Goal.

The bottom line

The Government of Jersey treats Jèrriais as an endangered heritage language it is trying to revive: it is an official language of the States, taught in all States primary schools, offered to adults online and in person, and available through a free uTalk licence. The learner numbers (over 1,000 as reported in the May 2023 blog, against just over 150 in 2020 to 2021) and the 2001 census speaker count are dated figures, and the language strategy runs from 2022 to 2025. For current lessons and any accredited qualification, L’Office du Jèrriais is the contact named by the government.

Sources

• Government of Jersey, “Jèrriais: Jersey’s traditional language” (gov.je)
• Government of Jersey, “Jèrriais Language Strategy 2022 to 2025” (gov.je)
• Government of Jersey blog, Ben Spink, “Un An Pus Tard – The Jèrriais Language Strategy 2022-25 – One Year On” (18 May 2023) (blog.gov.je)

An island language in its celebration year

Manx Gaelic (Gaelg) is the Gaelic language of the Isle of Man, which is a Crown Dependency and not part of the United Kingdom. This article summarises pages from Culture Vannin (the trading name of the Manx Heritage Foundation, a registered charity) and its Learn Manx site, including news items from 2026, together with the joint Manx Language Strategy 2022 to 2032 published by Culture Vannin and the Manx Language Network (Jeebin). The sources are about the Isle of Man; they describe provision there and online. They complement the guides on this site to Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and Irish.

Year of the Manx Language 2026

Culture Vannin says 2026 is Blein ny Gaelgey, the Year of the Manx Language, a year-long, island-wide celebration of the language. It employs a Manx Language Development Officer and points learners to learnmanx.com to find out how to learn Manx wherever they live. Among the year’s activities, a “Mannin Aboo Passport” scheme launched on 30 April 2026 challenges holders to use a simple Manx word or greeting at 18 participating shops, cultural sites and cafes. Culture Vannin’s coordinator says the aim is that people feel more comfortable using occasional Manx words, and that people do not need to be fluent or even learning Manx to keep the language part of daily life.

Classes and where to begin

The Learn Manx site lists routes for learning: the Manx-medium primary school Bunscoill Ghaelgagh, pre-school provision, primary and secondary education, and adult classes, including Manx for business. It also lists online resources such as dictionaries and grammar, translations and material to watch and listen to. Culture Vannin’s Manx language page links to online lessons and a mailing list. A Culture Vannin news item of 11 August 2026 states that weekly classes start again in September and that the Learn Manx newsletter gives details of learning opportunities.

The Scoill Souree summer school

Culture Vannin reports that Scoill Souree, its annual summer school for adults, welcomed 75 learners in Peel in 2026, in its fourth year since being established in 2023. About a third of students travelled to the Island from Ireland, England, Scotland, Wales, mainland Europe, the United States and Japan. Eight courses were offered, from absolute beginners to advanced speakers, and 2026 saw the first Manx course for Irish speakers taught through the medium of Irish, which the release describes as closely related to Manx Gaelic. The school runs alongside the Yn Chruinnaght Inter-Celtic festival at the end of July.

Cooish Vooar and free taster workshops

The Cooish Vooar Manx language festival runs from Friday 25 to Tuesday 29 September 2026, with more than 32 events across the Island. Culture Vannin says many events are free but require booking, and that the programme marks which activities suit people with no prior experience of Manx. It has also announced free “Blass Beg” (Little Taste) taster workshops on Saturday 26 September from 10am to 1pm in Ramsey, Douglas, Port Erin and Peel, aimed at adult beginners and accompanied young people from school year 7 upwards and led by qualified teachers of Manx. Booking is through learnmanx.com/cooishvooar or by calling Culture Vannin on 01624 676169. These events are dated to September 2026, so anyone reading later should check the current listings.

What the Manx Language Strategy says

The strategy, covering 2022 to 2032, is described as the second joint Manx Language Strategy, built on the theme of “Manx language for all”. Its introduction records that the Isle of Man has signed up to Part III of the Council of Europe’s Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. It highlights, as of its publication, 1,842 pupils attending Manx lessons in schools with support from the Manx Language Unit, three playgroups and two bilingual nurseries run by Mooinjer Veggey, the 20th anniversary of Bunscoill Ghaelgagh in 2021 to 2022 and a Manx Corpus Project in which around 1.5 million Manx words had been transcribed. It notes that online classes became more popular after the pandemic and increased accessibility for learners wherever they live. Its four themes cover resources, national and cultural identity, the Manx-speaking community and lifelong learning from early to later years. The strategy figures were current to 2022 and are not present-day counts.

Questions for a would-be learner

• Is the goal conversation, school-age learning or a qualification?
• Can classes be attended online? The strategy says online classes have widened access.
• Is a short taster, a weekly class or a summer school the right format? See How to Choose a Language Course: Matching Format to Your Goal.

The bottom line

Manx Gaelic is the subject of an unusually active year in 2026, with a Year of the Manx Language, a September festival and free taster workshops on 26 September, alongside a summer school for adults that drew 75 learners. Culture Vannin and the Learn Manx site are the starting points, with weekly classes resuming in September and online resources for learners anywhere. The Isle of Man’s Manx Language Strategy runs to 2032 and records Part III recognition under the European Charter. The strategy’s school and nursery figures date from 2022.

Sources

• Culture Vannin, “Manx Language” (culturevannin.im)
• Culture Vannin, “Launch of the Manx language ‘passport’” (30 April 2026) (culturevannin.im)
• Culture Vannin, “Manx Gaelic Summer School welcomes 75 learners for another successful year” (11 August 2026) (culturevannin.im)
• Culture Vannin, “Programme released for Cooish Vooar – Manx Language Festival” (4 September 2026) (culturevannin.im)
• Culture Vannin, “Manx Language Taster Workshops!” (18 September 2026) (culturevannin.im)
• Learn Manx, “Learn” (learnmanx.com)
• Culture Vannin and Jeebin, “Manx Language Strategy 2022 – 2032” (PDF) (culturevannin.im)

A language with its own law

Irish Sign Language (ISL) is the sign language used by the Deaf community in the Republic of Ireland. It is a separate language from British Sign Language, which is covered in Learning British Sign Language: Signature Qualifications and What the BSL Act 2022 Actually Changed, and from Makaton, which is covered in Makaton or British Sign Language?. This article summarises sections 3, 5, 6 and 7 of the Irish Sign Language Act 2017 as published on the Irish Statute Book (as enacted), a press release from the Department of Children, Disability and Equality dated 23 December 2020, and the National Disability Authority (NDA) page on finding an ISL interpreter. It covers the Republic of Ireland only. The position of sign languages in Northern Ireland is outside its scope.

Recognition and commencement

The Act was signed into law on 24 December 2017, and the government press release says a commencement order brought it into operation on 23 December 2020. Section 3 records that the State recognises the right of ISL users to use ISL as their native language, and the corresponding duty on all public bodies to provide ISL users with free interpretation when they are availing of, or seeking to access, statutory entitlements and services. It also provides that the community of persons using ISL has the right to use, develop and preserve the language. The press release says the Act recognises ISL as a native language of the State, and quotes the minister as saying that roughly 50,000 people communicate in ISL daily, of whom about 5,000 are native Deaf signers.

What public bodies must do

Under section 6, a public body must do all that is reasonable to ensure that interpretation into ISL is provided for a person who is competent in the language and cannot hear or understand English or Irish, when that person is seeking statutory entitlements or services from that body. The interpretation must be at no cost to the person concerned. The minister may make regulations requiring prior notification by a person who intends to use ISL services, and a remote, web-based service is enough to meet the duty if the ISL user consents. The section says ministers may prescribe other bodies funded by the Oireachtas as public bodies.

Who can interpret

Section 7 says a court or public body, in complying with the Act, must not engage a person to provide ISL interpretation unless that person’s competence has been verified through an accreditation scheme funded by the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection. The NDA explains that the scheme meeting the criteria is the Register of Irish Sign Language Interpreters (RISLI), which has a public directory of registered interpreters holding verified, recognised qualifications and bound by a code of conduct.

The NDA lists three routes to an interpreter: freelance interpreters, interpreting agencies, and a referral agency, the Sign Language Interpreting Service (SLIS), which provides a free referral service funded by the Citizens Information Board. SLIS also runs a remote interpreting service, the Irish Remote Interpreting Service. The NDA adds that longer or more intense assignments may need two interpreters, that some assignments call for both a Deaf interpreter and a hearing interpreter, and that children should not be used to interpret for their parents in place of an interpreter.

Educational supports

Section 5 places duties on the Minister for Education. The minister is to establish a scheme of ISL classes for parents, siblings and grandparents of a deaf child, and for others in the role of guardian; a scheme of ISL support for children in recognised schools whose primary language is ISL; provision in higher education institutions for teacher training placements in ISL; and, where practicable, minimum qualifications for teachers of deaf and hard-of-hearing children. The 2020 press release describes what existed at the time: an ISL Tuition Scheme run by the Department of Education for children and their families, funding from the National Council for Special Education for teachers to undertake ISL courses, and a four-year Bachelor of Education (Irish Sign Language) pilot at Dublin City University for deaf and hard-of-hearing students, which began in September 2019. It also refers to continuing professional development delivered by Trinity College Dublin’s Centre for Deaf Studies. Those descriptions are dated December 2020, and the department is the source for current provision.

What this means for someone learning ISL

• The sections summarised here concern rights and services for ISL users and classes for families of deaf children. They do not mention classes for the general public.
• Someone learning ISL to work as an interpreter will find that public bodies and courts may engage only accredited interpreters, so accreditation under the state-funded scheme is the relevant benchmark.
• Parents, siblings and grandparents of a deaf child are the group the Act explicitly names for state-funded classes.
• Interpreting careers in the UK follow different routes, described in NRCPD Explained: What Actually Qualifies Someone to Interpret BSL Professionally.

Reporting and review

The press release notes that under section 10 of the Act the minister arranged for a report on the operation of the Act to be prepared in 2021, and says that commencement does not mean the work is complete. It also records that a company had been established to maintain the interpreter register and a quality assurance scheme requiring continuing professional development.

The bottom line

The Irish Sign Language Act 2017 recognises ISL as a native language of the State, requires public bodies to do what is reasonable to provide free interpretation for those who cannot hear or understand English or Irish, and restricts courts and public bodies to interpreters accredited under the state-funded scheme, which the NDA identifies as RISLI. For learners, the strongest state-backed provision named in the Act is for the families of deaf children, and anyone aiming to interpret professionally should look at accreditation rather than class attendance alone.

Sources

• Irish Statute Book, “Irish Sign Language Act 2017, section 3 (Recognition of Irish Sign Language)” (irishstatutebook.ie)
• Irish Statute Book, “Irish Sign Language Act 2017, section 5 (Educational supports for deaf children)” (irishstatutebook.ie)
• Irish Statute Book, “Irish Sign Language Act 2017, section 6 (Duty of public bodies)” (irishstatutebook.ie)
• Irish Statute Book, “Irish Sign Language Act 2017, section 7 (Engagement of verified competent Irish Sign Language interpreters)” (irishstatutebook.ie)
• Department of Children, Disability and Equality, “Minister Rabbitte announces commencement of the Irish Sign Language Act 2017” (23 December 2020) (gov.ie)
• National Disability Authority, “Finding an Irish Sign Language Interpreter” (nda.ie)

A small language with a recent change in status

Cornish (Kernewek) is the Celtic language of Cornwall, in England. Earlier guides on this site cover Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, Irish and Ulster Scots. This article summarises pages from Cornwall Council on the language programme, on learning Cornish and on the Cornish national minority, a Cornwall Council news release of 22 January 2026 on the language’s new status, a GOV.UK press release of 24 April 2014 and the WJEC page for its Language Pathways Cornish qualifications. It concerns the Cornish language in Cornwall, and describes what those bodies say about it.

What “Part III” means and when it arrived

Cornwall Council’s language programme page states that the UK Government formally recognised Cornish in 2002 under Part II of the Council of Europe’s Charter for Regional or Minority Languages and that in 2025 the UK Government recognised Cornish under Part III of the same Charter. It says this gives stronger support, with commitments to particular areas of language development. The council’s news release of 22 January 2026 reports that the Council of Europe has approved Part III status, describing it as bringing Kernewek the same level of promotion as the other Celtic languages recognised across the British Isles, including Welsh, Manx and Gaelic. Councillors and MPs quoted in that release describe the recognition as the result of many years of campaigning. One MP says he has raised with the Prime Minister the obligations that follow from Part III, in particular changes needed so that anyone who wishes to learn Cornish can do so.

Recognition of the Cornish as a people is a separate matter. The UK Government press release of 24 April 2014 announced that the Cornish would be recognised under the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities, giving them the same status as the Scots, the Welsh and the Irish. Cornwall Council’s minority page adds that a council working group set up to support the Framework Convention also oversees progress against the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages.

The strategy behind the language

Cornwall Council says it leads the Cornish language programme and that the current strategy runs for ten years from 2026 to 2036, with four key areas: learning, community and culture, status and corpus. The programme’s stated aims include increasing the number of Kernewek speakers, giving the language a wider use and higher profile, creating favourable conditions for its use in public life and improving digital equality. The page describes the language as being in a stronger state than for a long time while still needing a programme to protect, support and develop it.

Where a new learner starts

Cornwall Council’s “Learn Cornish” page (last updated 16 July 2025) directs beginners to the Go Cornish website, which it says offers a way to find a Cornish class, learn some words and phrases and download a learning app. It also points teachers and prospective class organisers to the teachers’ association Ros Dyski, which supports people teaching the language. The council’s language pages also list a Cornish Language Office and an online translation request service.

Qualifications: WJEC Language Pathways Cornish

WJEC, the awarding body, lists Language Pathways Cornish qualifications on its website, with teaching from September 2012. The reference codes on the page show five awards: the WJEC Entry Level Pathway Award in Spoken Cornish (Entry 3), Level 1 and Level 2 Pathway Awards in Spoken Cornish, and Level 1 and Level 2 Pathway Awards in Written Cornish. WJEC describes the Language Pathways qualifications as supporting the acquisition of language skills in purposeful contexts, for learners with an interest in learning a language for the first time as well as those improving existing skills, regardless of skill on entry.

Cornwall Council’s page describes the Entry Level assessment as spoken Cornish only, with no written papers, drawn from three units: communicating personal information, education and employment, and social activities. It says candidates can choose which units they are assessed in and choose different units in later years at a higher level, so that they can deepen the range of their Cornish over time. Cornwall Council describes WJEC as offering a range of qualifications accredited under the Qualifications and Credit Framework (QCF), in which learners show what they can do with the language rather than what they can remember. The exam-centre policies, appeals procedure and complaints procedure are published by the Cornish Language Office.

Other Celtic languages on this site

• Welsh has a statutory framework and a national learner programme: Learning Welsh.
• Scottish Gaelic has a 2005 Act and a public body: Learning Scottish Gaelic.
• Irish and Ulster Scots in Northern Ireland are covered under a 2022 Act: Irish and Ulster Scots in Northern Ireland.

The bottom line

Cornish is a recognised minority language with a ten-year strategy from 2026 to 2036 and, according to Cornwall Council, Part III status under the European Charter, reported by the council as approved in January 2026. A beginner can start through the Go Cornish site and local classes, and can take WJEC Pathway awards from Entry 3 in spoken Cornish to Level 2 in spoken and written Cornish.

Sources

• Cornwall Council, “Cornish Language Programme” (cornwall.gov.uk)
• Cornwall Council, “Learn Cornish” (cornwall.gov.uk)
• Cornwall Council, “Cornish language officially granted Part III status” (22 January 2026) (cornwall.gov.uk)
• Cornwall Council, “Cornish National Minority” (cornwall.gov.uk)
• GOV.UK, HM Treasury, “Cornish granted minority status within the UK” (24 April 2014)
• WJEC, “Language Pathways Cornish” (wjec.co.uk)