Language degree review announced
England's higher education funding council has confirmed it will examine modern foreign language provision amid concern about university budget cuts.
Several have had reduced funding for languages following an assessment of research by the funding council.
The council (Hefce), said it was concerned about the health and sustainability of modern languages.
The review will make recommendations on "the long-term sustainability and vitality of modern foreign languages".
Oxford University has said that its modern languages budget had been cut by £1m for the year 2009-10.
Students at Imperial College London are also protesting about cuts to languages and humanities.
Hefce's responsibility is for English higher education but the issue is not confined to England. Students at Edinburgh University will protest over cuts which they say threaten two languages.
'Strategic decisions'
The major review - revealed by the BBC News website last week - will be led by the vice-provost of University College London, Professor Michael Worton, and will look at issues such as economic need, demand, the destination of graduates, and investment.
It will report to Hefce's strategically important and vulnerable subject advisory group, as well as to the Westminster government, this September.
The government has made it a priority to ring-fence money for science and engineering subjects in higher education.
Funding allocations made after last year's Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) reflect this.
The RAE decided universities' share of £1.5bn in research funding.
A spokesman for Hefce said more money had been allocated to both humanities and science subjects after the assessment exercise, but that science and engineering had benefited more.
He said money was provided to universities in a "block grant" and institutions were responsible for their own strategic decisions.
Source: BBC News, 27th May 2009.
27th May 2009
