Skip to main content

English Language: Education

Question for Department for Education

UIN 148183, tabled on 28 March 2022

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what additional funding will be provided to local authorities or colleges to help ensure that sufficient English language classes are available locally for people who arrived in the UK from Afghanistan in 2021.

Answered on

4 April 2022

We recognise that language skills are crucial to help people integrate into life in England, as well as to break down barriers to work and career progression. That is why we want to support all adults in England to secure the English language skills they need.

The department funds English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) provision for eligible adults aged 19 and over through the Adult Education Budget (AEB).

All Afghan adults who are being resettled through the Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy (ARAP) and the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS), will be immediately eligible for Further Education 19+ funding (including ESOL), by virtue of having ‘indefinite leave to remain’ status, as per the current AEB funding rules.

In addition, the Home Office provides £850 to local authorities for each adult resettled to the UK under ARAP or ACRS so they can access additional English language tuition in their first year.