Language College

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Language Colleges were introduced in 1995 as part of the specialist schools programme (SSP) in the United Kingdom. The system enabled secondary schools to specialise in certain fields, in this case, modern foreign languages. Schools that successfully applied to the Specialist Schools Trust and became Language Colleges received extra funding for language teaching from this joint private sector and government scheme. Language Colleges act as a local point of reference for other schools and businesses in the area, with an emphasis on promoting languages within the community. They are also encouraged to develop links with schools and other institutions in foreign countries. There were 216 Language Colleges in the country by 2010.^[1]

The specialist schools programme was discontinued by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government in April 2011. Since then schools can become Language Colleges either through academisation or through the Dedicated Schools Grant.^[2][3]