The Routes into Languages project is a consortium of universities working together with schools and colleges to promote the study of languages. The Routes brand and the activities associated with Routes into Languages are managed by the University Council of Modern Languages (UCML), a sector-wide association representing

modern language A modern language is any human language that is currently in use as a native language. The term is used in language education to distinguish between languages which are used for day-to-day communication (such as French and German) and dead clas ...

s in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

History of Routes into Languages (2006-2019)

Routes into Languages (RiL) was an initiative funded between 2006 and 2016 by the Higher Education Funding Council for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

to promote the take-up of languages through cooperation between universities, schools and colleges in England. It was managed by the

University of Southampton The University of Southampton (abbreviated as ''Soton'' in post-nominal letters) is a public university, public research university in Southampton, England. Southampton is a founding member of the Russell Group of research-intensive universit ...

working with nine regional networks across the country. By the end of the funding period, this consortium network of 67 universities across England was working with some 2,300 schools and 87,000 young people, with a focus on those from less advantaged backgrounds. From 2016, some of the original Routes consortia continued working with local schools, running a range of regional events and a highly successful Student Language Ambassador scheme. They operated under the custodianship of Universities UK International (UUKi) which worked with stakeholders within the modern languages community to transfer the ownership of the Routes brand and consortia to a sector-wide HE modern languages body.

Routes into Languages Cymru

Routes into Languages Cymru, in

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, is currently funded by a group of Welsh Universities, the four Welsh regional education consortia, and the

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

. Routes Cymru supports the uptake and visibility of modern languages in schools across Wales and is organised around two hubs located in the Schools of Modern Languages at

Cardiff University Cardiff University () is a public research university in Cardiff, Wales. It was established in 1883 as the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire and became a founding college of the University of Wales in 1893. It was renamed Unive ...

and

Bangor University Bangor University () is a Public university, public Research university, research university in Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales. It was established by Royal charter, Royal Charter in 1885 as the University College of North Wales (UCNW; ), and in 1893 ...

. To date, its focus has been on delivering and supporting schools-based activities intended to generate enthusiasm and interest in modern languages, above all in the

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

sector, also moving to digital support and online promotion.

References

{{reflist

External links

Routes into Languages website

Page Facebook Routes into Languages

LLAS website
College and university associations and consortia in the United Kingdom Language education in the United Kingdom University of Southampton