This research from the University of Cambridge and RAND Europe assessed the economic value of languages to the UK in general and then evaluated the potential economic benefits to the UK of improving languages education in schools. A key finding of the study is that investing in languages education in the UK will most likely return more than the investment cost, even under conservative assumptions.
The UK has experienced a sharp decline overall in the uptake of languages since 2004, as evidenced by the falling number of entries for GCSE and A Level examinations in languages. At a time when the UK government seeks to reset its global economic relationships as part of its vision of 'Global Britain', such a decline is likely to have negative effects on the UK's ability to compete internationally.
This research assessed the economic value of languages to the UK in general and then evaluated the potential economic benefits to the UK of improving languages education in schools.
The study found that languages play a significant role in international trade and that not sharing a common language acts as a non-tariff trade barrier. A key finding of the study is that investing in languages education in the UK will most likely return more than the investment cost, even under conservative assumptions.
By quantifying the wider economic benefits to the UK economy of extending languages education in schools, researchers found that the benefit-to-cost ratios for increasing Arabic, Mandarin, French or Spanish education are estimated to be at least 2:1, meaning that spending £1 could return about £2.