Context
The Widening Participation Languages Network (WPLN) is a special interest group of the University Council for Languages (UCFL). The WPLN was formed in 2022 to support the vital work that below average tariff universities do to widen access to language degrees in the UK.
Universities with above average entry tariffs are more likely to offer languages to degree level, have more students studying languages, and offer a wider range of languages.
The opposite is true for universities with below average entry tariffs, who are increasingly closing their language provision. In England we now have cold spots: areas of the country further from a commutable distance from a below average tariff university offering language degree programmes, shown in blue below:
Below average tariff universities without languages in or near cold spots (from Muradás-Taylor & Taylor, 2023)
This is a social justice issue since it excludes people from language study. Most students attend university close to home, with students from less privileged socio-economic backgrounds and some ethnic minority backgrounds more likely to commute. And many students at lower tariff universities are from under-represented groups – mature students, students with disabilities, care leavers or the first in their family to go to university.
The aim of the WPLN is to support each other to stop – and reverse – the decline in languages provision at below average tariff universities. The WPLN sees this as critical to addressing a wider and worsening ‘languages crisis’ in the UK.
The universities in the WPLN offer degree programmes in languages including Arabic, British Sign Language, Chinese, Classics, French, German, Irish, Italian, Korean, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish and Welsh – see membership below.
The WPLN reports to the UCFL Steering Group and Executive Committee, and the chair is an honorary member of the UCFL Executive Committee.
Activities
The network meets twice a year to share good practice and discuss how to respond to challenges in the sector.
We can form a rapid response languages taskforce as required to offer support and help when language programmes are undergoing curriculum or portfolio review.
Members of the WPLN have wide-ranging experience designing and managing language degree programmes. Expertise includes sustainable programme design, inclusive learning and teaching practice, innovative assessment methods, embedding employability skills, schools liaison/outreach, study abroad/virtual study abroad and student support/retention.
Membership
 | Chair | Professor Becky Muradás-Taylor b.muradas-taylor@leeds.ac.uk |
 | University Council For Languages (UCFL) link | Marcela Cazzoli (Hon. Secretary) |
 | Association of University Language Communities (AULC) representative | Mark Critchley |
Languages offered as degree programmes are indicated in the table. This includes languages offered in combination with other subjects such as business, international relations, linguistics and TESOL.
Note that additional languages, not named here, may also be offered as part of dual- or multiple-language degree programmes, as electives, or not for credit.
 | Aberystwyth University | French, German, Spanish, Welsh | Dr Guy Baron, Dr Gabor Gelléri |
 | Bangor University | Chinese, French, German, Italian, Spanish, Welsh | Dr Jonathan Ervine |
 | Birkbeck, University of London | French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish | Dr Damian Catani, Dr Michael Tsang |
 | University of Chester | Chinese, French, German, Spanish | Dr Mark Gant |
 | De Montfort University | Chinese | Dr Marion Krauthaker |
 | University of Essex | French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish | Dr Tracey Costley, Dr Antonio Da Silva, Jessie Mallinson, Ignazia Posadinu |
 | University of Hertfordshire | Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Spanish | Helen Monribot |
 | University of Kent | French, German, Italian, Spanish | Dr Wissia Fiorucci, Dr Alvise Sforza Tarabochia |
 | London Metropolitan University | Translation | Danielle D’Hayer, Hannah King |
 | Middlesex University | Chinese, Spanish | Dr Rui Su |
 | Nottingham Trent | French, Spanish | Professor Frank Austermuehl, Dr Christine Leahy |
 | The Open University | Chinese, French, German, Spanish | Dr Zsuzsanna Barkanyi, Dr Mirjam Hauck, Dr Laura Paterson |
 | Oxford Brookes University | French, Japanese, Spanish | Dr Irene Hill |
 | University of Portsmouth | Chinese, French, German, Italian, Spanish | Dr Stephen Corbett, Sara Gomez Villa, Carmen Pasamar |
 | University of Reading | Classics, French, German, Italian, Spanish | Jackie Baines, Professor Daniela La Penna |
 | Sheffield Hallam University | French, Spanish | Cristina López Moreno, Dr Alex Marshall, Simon Nicholls, Dr Alicia Sánchez-Requena |
 | University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) | British Sign Language, Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Spanish | Dr Sofia Anysiadou, Dr Lynne Barnes, Dr Edward Griffith, Dr Luigi Lerose, Dr Nicola Jayne Nunn, Dr Mark Orme, Dr Junhui Yang |
 | Ulster University | Irish | Professor Raffi Folli, Dr Christina Sevdali, Dr Morgan Macleod |
 | University of Westminster | Arabic, Chinese, French, Spanish | Dr Ludivine Broch, Dr Saskia Huc-Hepher, Dr Jonathan Kasstan, Professor Terry Lamb, Professor Gerda Wielander |
 | University of Wolverhampton | British Sign Language | Avril Langard-Tang, Sarah Bown, Sandra Pratt |
 | York St John University | British Sign Language, Japanese, Korean | Dr Leesa Clarke, Dr Chisato Danjo, Dr Dai O’Brien, Dr Nikki Swift, Professor Rachel Wicaksono |
The following members of the WPLN offer languages as part of an institution wide languages programme.
 | Anglia Ruskin University | Rebecca Rowntree, Dr Sebastian Rasinger |
 | Aston University | Dr Emmanuelle Labeau |
 | University of Plymouth | Dr Danielle Bishop |