By Dr Daniel McAuley, Hannah Murphy, Dr Emma Humphries and Prof Janice Carruthers from the School of Arts, English and Languages at Queen’s University Belfast.
Home, Heritage and Community Languages (HHCLs) are languages which are usually used and learned at home, within the community, in complementary schools or in faith settings (e.g. Arabic, Chinese, Polish, Urdu). They are not normally acquired in mainstream educational settings.
University admissions practices with regard to HHCL A Level qualifications are varied and inconsistent. In some cases, the qualifications are discounted from offers on the basis that they are assumed to reflect significant prior exposure or ‘native’ language competence rather than academic achievement in a rigorous assessment.
Such inconsistency risks inequitable access to higher education and suggests a perceived hierarchy of value within language A Levels and A Level qualifications more generally. Through a comparative analysis of specifications and subject requirements, this policy paper argues that such assumptions are not supported by the design of A Level qualifications.
You can read the full policy paper by clicking on Home Heritage and Community Languages Policy Paper 14 Final.