The teaching of Chinese in secondary schools in England has developed quickly in the last decade.

There is now a much greater general awareness in schools and in the wider community that Chinese is a possible language option. This is particularly the case for secondary schools.

The UCL Institute of Education Confucius Institute aim to support the progress of all schools wishing to explore or enhance the delivery of Chinese. In some cases, with the support of CLEC, secondary schools now have Confucius Classrooms status which has helped the growth of Chinese as a subject in their school and in their local community however, the IOE Confucius Institute extends its support to all schools with an interest in teaching Chinese. Please read our ‘Curriculum Models for Secondary Mandarin’ for more information.

In schools in England, there is an urgent need to make Chinese language learning more sustainable, for pupils to move from the initial excitement of beginners’ taster classes to longer term endeavour to learn the language.

In order to do this, there needs to be a better understanding of how pupil’s best learn Chinese as a foreign language and how their interest can be sustained, so that they do not opt to give up after a year’s study.

The IOE Confucius Institute aims to lead the agenda for Chinese teaching and learning. To achieve this we strive to provide appropriate support for schools, provide teacher training, develop quality teaching materials, inform curriculum content and do what we can to ensure that examinations are appropriate.