The final of the British Council’s annual Mandarin Speaking Competition took place in London last week. The competition offers a fun opportunity for secondary school students to practice and improve their Mandarin Chinese language skills, with the aim of encouraging greater interest in Chinese language and culture. Taking part helps to raise students’ confidence in their speaking skills, develops their vocabulary, and improves their pronunciation.

The national competition had finalists from 42 secondary schools from across the UK. Schools on our Mandarin Excellence programme were well represented, and all performed brilliantly. A special shout out to prize winners from Calday Grange Grammar School, Kingsford Community School, Bishop Vesey’s Grammar School, Christopher Whitehead Language College and Mayfield Grammar School.

MEP students competing at the Mandarin Speaking Competition final

Ms Yang, teacher of Mandarin at Mayfield Grammar School, said:

“It is our first time participating in the national competition. We are thrilled of our pupil’s achievement. I hope that our students are benefitted from the experience, gaining increased confidence when using Mandarin, learning more about Chinese culture, and being inspired to continue studying languages to a higher level.”

Our Director Katharine Carruthers also spoke on a panel about the importance of Mandarin learning, together with the Minister for School Standards The Rt Hon Nick Gibb MP, Mr. Xia Jianhui , Counsellor (Education) of the Chinese Embassy in the UK, and chaired by Mark Herbert, Head of Schools Programmes for the British Council.

Congratulations to our MEP School winners – keep up the good work!