The EAL Academy Ltd

The data schools collect on pupils with English as additional language (EAL) for the School Census every year tell us that in 2023 around 20% of pupils has EAL. That is very curious. The national School Census figures for ethnicity tell us that just under 63% are White British and 1.5 % are of Caribbean heritage. It is fair to assume that these pupils live in households where English is pretty much the only language spoken. So presumably more than a third of pupils have English as an additional language? No, the recorded figure is just over 20%. Who are the other pupils? A handful might come from an English speaking country such as Australia or New Zealand, but an overall figure of 15% who are not EAL but not from a White British or Caribbean background just doesn’t add up.

The figures also vary hugely by region. In the least diverse parts of England (the North East and South West) the figure the Others is under 10%. In the most diverse region, London, it is over 25%.
What is going on? The Department for Education’s definition of for school census purposes is that “a pupil is recorded as having English as an additional language if she/he is exposed to a language at home that is known or believed to be other than English.” The DFE also says: “It is not a measure of English language proficiency or a good proxy for recent immigration.” Yet we still do not record the data accurately. Perhaps some schools ask parents: “What language do you speak at home?” That does not encourage parents to mention all of the languages spoken in the home.

Does it matter? If we want to celebrate the strengths and gifts all of our pupils bring to school, yes. If we really want to value our multilingual learners and identify them all effectively, perhaps a better question for schools to ask might be: “What language does your child speak to their grand-parents in?”

Schools that do not record all of their EAL pupils also miss out on funding for them.

EAL best practice for multilingual pupils 🏆 -

EAL best practice for multilingual pupils 🏆 Our regular EAL Quality Mark webinars give schools with fantastic EAL provision a platform to share how they work with EAL pupils and their families.

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/sara-lozano-arcas-718941157_were-thrilled-to-announce-that-st-andrew-activity-7292878030119579649-6mh3?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAAANMWDkB646FtnihXilov6abcDTaKV1t4l4

Sara Lozano Arcas on LinkedIn: We did it team! 🏅 We are GOLD EAL Quality Mark winners! I couldn't be… We did it team! 🏅 We are GOLD EAL Quality Mark winners! I couldn't be prouder of the teaching team at St Andrew's Prep! It's truly heartwarming to see how…

Over the last five years GSCE results have fallen for pupils with English as their first language but risen for those with English as an additional language. The size of the attainment gap between the two groups has tripled.

Do you want to find out about primary schools with fantastic EAL practice? Have a look at these short videos https://theealacademy.co.uk/eal-in-primary-schools/

EAL in primary schools - The EAL Academy Find out how to support learners with EAL in primary schools with our best practice case studies, resources and courses.

Over the last eight years the biggest changes in the proportion of pupils with English as an additional language have tended to be in Outer London (where you find the two biggest increases) and Inner London (where you find four of the largest decreases).
You can see the figures from 2016-2024 for every local authority at https://theealacademy.co.uk/resources/.

Where do my graphs come from? It is all data in the public domain. EAL data: finding it and using it theealacademy.co.uk/product/eal-and-data-finding-it-and-using-it/ is a course that aims to develop EAL data analysis and presentation skills in relation to EAL learners. It covers both what we can learn from school and wider data sources and how we can present that data to influence colleagues and improve EAL provision.

EAL data: finding it and using it - The EAL Academy Develop your EAL data analysis and presentation skills in relation and learn how we can present data to influence colleagues and improve EAL provision.

Over the last eight years the biggest changes in the proportion of pupils with English as an additional language have tended to be in Outer London (where you find the two biggest increases) and Inner London (where you find four of the largest decreases).
You can see the figures from 2016-2024 for every local authority at https://theealacademy.co.uk/resources/

See our latest EAL Quality Mark webinar https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0btYaYPrUU featuring Gold EAL Quality Mark award winners Forest School in Wokingham and Wellington School in Trafford. In between these two schools we hear from Rugby School Thailand about its bespoke online EAL course for all of its staff.

Webinar 17th October 2024 Three schools share best practice

Over the weekend I spoke at The Practical Pedagogies Conference in Cologne. I also went to a wonderful workshop:

Graham Smith FRSA on LinkedIn: What a fun workshop! Thank you so much Alka Townend MRes (Ed), BA(Hons)… What a fun workshop! Thank you so much Alka Townend MRes (Ed), BA(Hons), QTS.

Which areas have the largest number of Chinese speakers in schools? This is one of the few school languages graphs you will see in which London barely features and wealthy areas abound.