A-Level Polish ExamThe case for keeping the A-Level Polish Exam

Jakub Krupa for Polish Educational Society, April 2015

Contact: jakub@polesin.uk, 074 5009 5021

Introduction

• Poles in the UK: the oldest migrant community in the United Kingdom

• Polish Resettlement Act 1947

• More than 700,000-strong community today

• Second most spoken language in the UK

• Polish A-level exam offered since 1950

• Most important Polish issue at the moment

The Campaign40,000 signatures to save the Polish A-Level exam

40,000 signatures

• 40,000 signatures to save the A-Level Polish exam• 25,000 signatures in paper

• 15,000 signatures online

• Signatures collected in more than 200 places around the United Kingdom

• Hundreds of letters of support from British residents

Parliamentary support• CON Nick de Bois, MP for Enfield North

• CON Angie Bray, MP for Ealing Central and Acton

• CON Daniel Kawczyński, MP for Shrewsbury and Atcham

• LAB Mark Lazarowicz, MP for North Edinburgh and Leith

• LAB Chris Leslie, MP for Nottingham East

• LAB Slobhain McDonagh, MP for Mitchan and Morden

• CON Eric Ollerenshaw OBE, MP for Lancaster and Fleetwood

• LAB Stephen Pound, MP for Ealing North

• LAB Virendra Sharma, MP for Ealing Southall

• LAB Andrew Slaughter, MP for Hammersmith

• FCO Charles Crawford, former British Ambassador to Poland

Prominent signatories

• Witold Sobków, Ambassador of Poland to the UK

Learning Polish, the UK’s second most spoken language, is a plus.

• Zygmunt Bauman, world-class sociologist

I couldn’t support this campaign more!

• Paweł Pawlikowski, Oscar-winning director, „Ida”

I support the campaign against the AQA’s decision.

• Adam Zamoyski, historian

Poland is offering remarkable career opportunities for young people from this country and I

hope you will not deprive them of this chance.

Universities

• Jan Kubik, Professor, Director at UCL SSEES

• Anne White, Professor of Polish Studies, UCL

More and more students have been taking Polish A-level in recent years. As ties between

Poland and the UK increase and diversify, it seems highly probable that more non-Poles will

wish to study Polish to an advanced level.

• Rory Finnin, Head of Slavonic Studies, Cambridge

The Polish language has become a vibrant part of British society. As UK universities like

Cambridge work to institutionalise programmes dedicated to the language and culture of

Poland, it is particularly troubling to see AQA move in the opposite direction.

Media support

Media support

Media support• Philip Oltermann, The Guardian

From overseas, Britain increasingly looks like an oddity: a multicultural monoglot. Reversing AQA’s decision could start to tackle that problem.

• Owen Hatherley, The Guardian

It’s an example of insularity that the most spoken foreign language isn’t considered worthyof study.

• Boyd Tonkin, The Independent

It makes no sense to break this vital link of language with one of the UK’s most valuablepartners.

• Maria Polachowska, BBC Newsnight

Polish is a very important skill in many professions and jobs today, as it was for me in my career.

Political pledges

Concern #1:

Low entriesUnique upward trend among modern languages

Concern #1:

Low entries

PROBLEM AS DIAGNOSED

„As you can see there has been no

growth in recent years and we are not

anticipating a significant increase in entries

this year”

- Dale Bassett, AQA

OUR SOLUTION

• Positive upward trend

• Polish A-Level exam outperforming

other languages: despite general decline

in interest in foreign languages

• Long-term forecast positive: expected

further growth

Concern #1:

Low entries

• Rising Polish-speaking population – 555,000 in 2010 to 726,000 in 2014

• Long-term trend shows the rise in number of students taking AS and A2 exams in Polish

• Our safe projection shows the number of AS students will pass 2,000 before 2018, with more than 1,500 also taking A2 exams

• Coordinated campaign encouraging students to take AS and A2 exams in Polish may boost the increase even further

• Long-term trend for the A-level Polish most positive of all languages

Concern #1:

Low entries

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

1400

1600

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Entry - AS Polish (June)

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015

Entry - A2 Polish (June)

Concern #1:

Low entries

0

500

1000

1500

2000

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2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

AS Polish v A2 Polish since 2002

Concern #1:

Low entries

-100%

0%

100%

200%

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Polish A-Level versus peers since 2008

French German Spanish Polish

Concern #1:

Low entries

-25%

0%

25%

2011 2012 2013 2014

Polish A-Level versus peers since 2011

French German Spanish Polish

Concern #2:

Lack of senior examinersOver 1500 teachers in 130 schools

Concern #2:

Lack of senior examiners

PROBLEM AS DIAGNOSED

„We require a pipeline of experienced

senior examiners to set and award papers.

(…) We believe that it will be extremely

difficult to secure the examining

resource needed.”

- Dale Bassett, AQA

OUR SOLUTION

• Available skilled workforce teaching

Polish on a regular basis in more than 130

Polish Saturday schools

• Possibility of tailoring PES teachers'

courses to AQA and Ofqual standards:

subject to future co-operation with AQA

• Joint recruitment of examiners

Concern #2:

Lack of senior examiners

• Significant human resource base

• 1500 qualified teachers in 130 Polish supplementary schools

• Experience in offering A-level exams

• PES Examination Centre in London offering GCSE and A-Level Polish

• Further potential for preparing new teachers to take up roles in supplementary schools and as examiners

• Postgraduate Diploma in Teaching Polish Language and Culture outside Poland, offered jointly by PES, Polish University Abroad and the University of Łódź

Concern #3:

Need for newqualifications65 years of experience in teaching Polish abroad

Concern #3:

Need for new qualifications

PROBLEM AS DIAGNOSED

„We have decided not to develop a new

qualification in A-level Polish. (…) We

have to make decisions about how we most

effectively use our resources.’

- Judith Rowland-Jones, AQA

OUR SOLUTION

• Strengthen the institutional

cooperation between AQA and PES to

meet Ofqual requirements

• Use the knowledge and experience of

PES and Polish institutions to support

AQA

Concern #3:

Need for new qualifications

• PES ready to develop new qualifications for A-level exams or to contribute to such process

• Over 60 years of experience in teaching Polish in the UK

• Experience in developing the previous requirements

• Established co-operation with Polish University Abroad and the University of Łódź

• Support of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Poland if needed

FinancingA-Level PolishOur proposal

Financing A-Level Polish

• New financing solutions for A-Level Polish exam

• Adjusting fees to demand

• Pooling examination centres in regions

Summary

Summary• More than 40,000 signatures to save the A-Level Polish exam

• Support of Poles in the UK, including eminent representatives of the Polish-British community

• Demographically and economically speaking, the case has never beenstronger for the A-Level Polish exam

• Positive demographic trend supporting the case for keeping the A-Level Polish exam

• Readiness to enhance the institutional cooperation between Polish and British insititutions

• Openness to discuss the model of financing

Thank youfor your attention