Newcomer pupils in the UK have hardly any entitlements

A recent study comparing Australia, Canada and the UK have found that whilst UK schools prepare pupils well for cultural diversity, the provision for English language tuition is weak.

Australia and Canada often better prepare schools than the UK or most European countries to address newcomer students' needs and opportunities. MIPEX III found that Canadian provinces often provide the right to high quality English or French courses, extra training for teachers and funding per student, and sometimes extra guidance or support. The new MIPEX Australia profile shows that States are offering newcomers targeted information, translation, and interpretation services upon arrival, as well as continuing support, quality English courses, and supplementary teaching assistance and resources. In both countries, some schools allow all pupils to learn about immigrant languages and cultures, in addition to specific "heritage language education programmes" in Canada and “community language schools” in Australia. The MIPEX III UK data observed that newcomers generally benefit from some targeted measures in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. But newcomer pupils have hardly any entitlements. Much depends on whether schools and municipalities apply for available extra funding, support and training.

The full study can be found at http://www.mipex.eu/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/MIPEX-MPG_UK-Australia_ComparisonStudy.pdf"