Advisory Groups

Advisory committee for languages in education

Convenor: Geoff Swinn
Chair: Anne Farren
Terms of reference/description of group:
This group brings together a number of high-profile representatives from key bodies concerned with languages in education in the UK. It offers advice to the CILT Governing Body on strategic objectives for the CILT Corporate Plan and Comenius Network, and acts as a forum for the exchange and dissemination of information relating to the promotion of languages and language capability.

Advisory group on initial teacher training

Convenor: Ann Swarbrick
Chair: Ann Swarbrick
Terms of reference/description of group:
The CILT Advisory Group for initial teacher training aims:

to advise CILT on developments and issues across the broad landscape of ITE
to promote the highest quality of training amongst all providers;
to demonstrate and disseminate the benefits to ITT
to plan the programme of events for ITT including the annual CILT conference

The group is involved in the following activities:

it acts as editorial group for the Links bulletin and the ITTMFL website for all involved in the training of language teachers;
it has in the past co-ordinated, through CILT, teacher trainers' responses to consultation documents through its network of groups in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the regions of England and Wales.

Awarding bodies forum

Convenor: Anne Marie Graham
Chair: Anne Davidson Lund
Terms of reference/description of group:

The Awarding Bodies Forum is convened by CILT, the National Centre for Languages, as the UK specialist sector body and government centre of expertise for languages.

The Forum brings together UK regulatory bodies and key representatives of UK awarding bodies offering a range of occupational and vocationally related language qualifications.

The purpose of the Awarding Bodies Forum is:
To exchange information on developments and trends in the field of language provision and accreditation;To impart relevant evidence of employer demand to awarding bodies.
To engage relevant stakeholders in the consultation on national occupational standards, in particular as they relate to N/SVQs and VRQs;
To promote consistency and rigour in quality assurance procedures;
To identify common issues of concern and how these might be addressed through effective collaboration;
To share expertise and highlight good practice.

Membership currently includes representatives of:

ABC
CACDP
CCEA
City & Guilds
DELLSEDI
Edexcel
Federation of Awarding Bodies

IoL Educational Trust
NCFE
NOCN
OCR
QCA
SQA
SQA (Accreditation Unit)

Meetings are held biannually at CILT, the National Centre for Languages.

CILT UK

Convenor: Anne Davidson Lund
Chair: Host chairs
Terms of reference/description of group:

Commitments arising from a voluntary association

CILT UK represents the voluntary association of the UK’s four CILTs which are: CILT Cymru, CILT the National Centre for Languages, NICILT and Scottish CILT. Membership of CILT UK is restricted to these four organisations (including their Languages Networks).

Through CILT UK the four CILTs undertake particular commitments. These are:

to share information and ideas, to offer mutual support and to make common cause on behalf of languages in communication with the media and outside bodies (nationally and internationally) where this is judged to be appropriate;
to collaborate each year in the planning, delivery, evaluation and follow-through of particular agreed initiatives which each considers to be advantageous;
to participate in one annual CILT UK residential meeting;
to meet at least one other time per year, normally through the participation of at least one senior member of staff from each CILT;
to attend and contribute to the meetings of the Board of Governors of CILT the National Centre for Languages.

There are many other commitments which CILT the National Centre for Languages undertakes in collaboration with one or more individual CILTS (eg representation on their particular Boards) and which in principle other CILTs might undertake with each other, but these more specific commitments are arranged between the individual centres rather than through CILT UK.

An important characteristic of the CILT UK collaboration is that it cannot be uniform across all four centres. This is because:

there are different devolutionary arrangements in respect of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales which in turn affect the financial and other relationship which each CILT has to CILT the National Centre for Languages;
the amount of core funding varies from one centre to the other and it is not necessarily the case that each centre has the same amount of time and resources to put into the UK collaboration. The priority of each CILT has to be to deliver its approved programme within the territory for which has responsibility.

Benefits of collaboration through CILT UK

The over-riding aim of each CILT is to deliver a programme based on its governmental core-funding, as proposed to its particular Board and as approved by the appropriate governmental department. Collaboration through CILT UK seeks to add value to each CILT’s core programme.

In addition, each CILT seeks funding from other sources. Collaboration through CILT UK seeks to maximise this revenue, e.g. through the joint planning and submission of proposals, and to allow benefit to flow into all areas of the UK.

Each CILT possesses its own areas of specialist expertise in which it is a leader within CILT UK. Collaboration through CILT UK seeks to make such expertise available, and to become embedded and developed, across all four centres.

CILT UK meetings

Normally, each CILT takes it in turn to host the annual residential meeting. The responsibilities of the hosting centre include consultation with the other CILTs and in particular with CILT the National Centre for Languages (which provides the secretariat for CILT UK) in order to plan the particular programme, to make the necessary domestic and other arrangements and to help monitor the follow-through of any projects or actions which are initiated at the CILT UK meeting.

Normally, the costs of accommodation, meals, room-hire and other matters of this sort are met by the host centre, while each CILT covers the travelling expenses of its particular staff.

The main purposes of CILT UK annual residential meetings are:

to share views, expertise and experiences in relation to the situation of languages across the UK and globally, in particular in respect of the four centres’ overall mission of promoting a greater national capability in languages
to review progress on CILT UK initiatives which are already in hand
to initiate ideas and initial plans for possible new initiatives.
The aims of the other CILT UK meeting (senior staff, with all four centres represented) will include:
initial planning of next CILT UK meeting, including ideas for possible new initiatives
review of progress on current initiatives.

Employers' advisory group

Convenor: Anne Davidson Lund
Chair: Peter Thompson
Terms of reference/description of group:

To represent the employer interest to CILT, the National Centre for Languages.
To advise CILT on strategies for promoting languages to the business sector
To advise on strategic objectives relating to languages and intercultural skills in and for the workforce.
To disseminate at regional and national level the key messages for employment and employability of CILT, the National Centre for Languages.
The Employers' Advisory Group will meet twice a year to inform the meetings of the Governing Body of CILT, the National Centre for Languages.
Members of the Group may be invited to participate in consultations or other activities outside the formally scheduled meetings.

European Award for Languages judging panel

Convenor: Tamzin Caffrey
Chair: Steven Fawkes
Terms of reference/description of group:
The European Award for Languages recognises creative ways to improve the quality of language teaching, motivate learners and make the best of available resources. The award is a Europe-wide initiative supported by the European Commission and coordinated in the UK by CILT, the National Centre for Languages.

Members of the judging panel assess each individual application, attend a panel meeting to establish a shortlist and carry out project visits or shortlisted applicants. The judging panel is made up of highly respected members of the languages world, with composition changing from year to year depending on availability.

National Community Languages Advisory Group

Convenor: Kathryn Abram
Chair: Claire Dugard
Terms of reference/description of group:
CILT's National Community Languages Advisory Group includes teachers, training providers and policy-oriented bodies (such as QCA, DCSF, Ofsted) among its membership. The group's main concerns are:

promoting community languages in schools and colleges, among governors and parents, and in the community; positive images of community languages;
access to information about suitable teaching materials;
adequate provision of nationally recognised examinations in these languages;
teacher training, both initial and in-service, and accreditation for training undertaken; also career development for teachers of community languages;
professional updating - how to keep in touch with new developments in the field;
the need for statistical information on the number of speakers of these languages;
the extent to which the problems encountered by community languages teachers are the same as those encountered by teachers of the 'big four' languages.

Post-19 consultation group

Convenor: Sharon Czudak
Chair: Pauline Swanton
Terms of reference/description of group:
The post-19 consultation group brings together key players to support and guide colleagues in post-19; to understand and work to help clarify the national picture; to share information and make recommendations for action; to inform national strategy and implementation; and to identify, produce and help disseminate best practice.
The group includes representation from NIACE, ALL, DfES, ALI (observer status), experts in Adult Education and Adult and Community Learning. It meets three times a year.

Practitioners' group

Convenor: Anne Marie Graham
Chair: John Hammond
Terms of reference/description of group:
The Practitioners’ Group provides a channel of communication and information exchange between CILT and its specialist employer sector, i.e. professional providers of language services (translation, interpreting, training, cultural consultancy).

Remit of the group:

From the perspective of professional language practitioners and employers in the sector, to recommend and review strategies for achieving CILT’s mission.
From the perspective of professional language practitioners and employers in the sector, to advise CILT on developments and needs concerning the use of languages by employers.
To advise CILT on developments and issues of concern for the profession and the sector.
To advise on means of improving quality in the provision of language services.
To advise and comment on incremental changes to the National Language Standards, the National Standards in Interpreting, the National Standards in Translating and the adult European Language Portfolio, and to identify opportunities for greater relevance and wider uptake.