Pupils from across the country celebrate Mandarin success

Over 100 pupils were this week praised by Education Secretary Justine Greening and Schools Standards Minister Nick Gibb on their high levels of achievements studying under the Mandarin Excellence Programme. The advanced Mandarin programme, funded by the DfE, is being delivered by UCL Institute of Education in partnership with the British Council and is on track to have 5,000 young people fluent in Mandarin by 2020. Mandarin Chinese is the most spoken language in the world, and the programme delivered through secondary schools will equip young people with the knowledge and skills to compete in a global jobs market. The programme was introduced in September 2016 and the results from the first year show that more than 380 the majority of pupils achieved over 80 per cent in reading, writing, listening and speaking tests, which shows their quick progress and the advanced understanding of the language. Katharine Carruthers, Director of the UCL Institute of Education Confucius Institute, said: "The pupils who took part in the programme of events at the Foreign Office today had the opportunity to participate in what must surely have been the country's largest ever Chinese lesson. They met government ministers from both the UK and China and talked enthusiastically about their progress in the language, their enjoyment of lessons and the forthcoming visit to China in July 2018.