Language GCSE success at Burgess Hill Girls

Burgess Hill Girls celebrates another outstanding year of performance in language GCSEs. With the vast majority of girls taking a GCSE language, with many taking two, 80% of language GCSEs this year were of the highest grades, 9 to 7.

While the take up of language GCSEs remains historically low across the country, Burgess Hill Girls enhances the outward focus and cultural exploration of its students by teaching four languages from Year 7. Through this, the School continues to instil the importance of languages to secure the widest range of possible futures for its pupils.

For students, languages develop mental acuity. As Neil Kenny, Languages lead at the British Academy has said: “The ability to switch between languages makes you cognitively more flexible, better at multitasking, more creative. Language skills improve access to the world of work. They enhance productivity. They make you culturally agile—more able to put yourself in other people’s shoes, to have intercultural understanding.” Anna Bruell, who got a Grade 9 for both French and German said “Burgess Hill Girls encouraged my interest in the languages since I started at the School. Knowing the importance of languages in my future, I am very pleased to have achieved these strong GCSE results.”

"Employer demand for French, German and Spanish skills has significantly increased over the last few years,” says Matthew Fell, Chief UK policy director for business group the CBI. Languages are essential for trade, business, the economy and for cultural exchange, as well as for national security and diplomacy. These skills are vital for Britain’s future, and graduate recruitment in public services and private industry value language aptitude highly.

Head of Futures, Judith Edey said, “Burgess Hill Girls fully recognises the intellectual and creative benefits to be enjoyed when studying other languages. Some of the older girls are so fascinated by the challenges of other language systems that they enthusiastically and successfully enter Linguistic Olympiad competitions at both national and international level. We have had two British team representatives in the last five years. Beyond the very valuable immediate access to other cultures, skills in languages are widely regarded as becoming increasingly important to employers as recruitment of foreign native speakers becomes more difficult and new trade agreements and business opportunities with foreign companies of vital importance, to the success of the post Brexit economy.”