Recent figures speak of more than 1 million English as an additional language (EAL) pupils in mainstream UK education today. For Scotland alone, the 2016 Census mentions 39,000. These figures are so considerable that it’s hard to understand why education authorities in Scotland, England and Wales do not acknowledge the presence of children and young people who require English language support.

There is no government ring-fenced budget for EAL; neither are there clear recommendations for using available funds. In fact, there is much confusion surrounding EAL. This has to be addressed before more pupils leave school feeling that they have underachieved due to language issues.

Problems start the moment schools have to identify who is and isn’t EAL. Since September 2016, the Department for Education has expected all schools in England and Wales to assess the language development of all children identified as EAL. This was a great step forward - only the DfE has not yet provided a clear, uniform EAL assessment framework that schools can use.

An experienced language teacher can assess a child’s level of English after conducting an oral interview and doing some writing exercises, but not every school has such a teacher. A positive development is that the Cambridge-based Bell Foundation has commissioned a research and development team at King’s College, London to prepare an EAL assessment toolkit, which recently became available on its website. It will take some time and effort to learn how to use the kit, but it’s a very comprehensive assessment.

For Scotland, the situation is quite different. The government does not ask for a level assessment for EAL; in fact, EAL departments confirm that schools do not have to identify EAL pupils. Instead, it is left to the parents to say if their child speaks English as an additional language.

Each parent of a schoolchild in Scotland is given a form to complete, which asks the ethnic group of the child and which language is his or her mother tongue.

Misjudging fluency

This can lead to confusion, as parents will state that the child’s first language is, for example, Polish if the child uses this language at home and spoke it first as a baby; however, this child may also be fully proficient in English and not require any support at all.

On the other hand, a parent may state that their child’s first language is English, implying that the child is fluent - but that parent may be misjudging the child’s competency.

It is not uncommon for parents from a migrant background not to speak English or only to use basic English. Parents are not trained to assess the language level of their children and so may presume that their child is fluent, because the child’s English sounds much better than their own. Often, therefore, the children are not fully proficient but are on a level C (developing competence) or D (competent, requiring some academic input).

This means that they do not understand everything the teacher says or the textbook tells them. They will also have problems expressing themselves at a level expected of them - creating obvious problems, for example, with assessments in the final years of secondary education.

What is needed, both in England/Wales and in Scotland, is a far wider recognition of the EAL issue: an awareness of the exclusion that EAL pupils face on a daily basis - not only beginners, but also the pupils who have lived in the UK for a number of years.

It is simply wrong to expect them to cope, and not to offer a nationwide strategy and the resources to help schools cater for this group of pupils.

EAL departments at local authorities all over the country have been either closed down or significantly reduced in size. Cities are in a better position here, mainly because EAL pupils represent such a high percentage of the school roll that councils have to provide more support.

Nevertheless, even in Edinburgh, where the EAL team is as good as it gets, most schools say that they do not get enough time with the EAL tutor or bilingual assistant. Often, a group of EAL pupils who are high-priority get only one targeted support a week. What they need is at least two intensive hours a week, on a regular basis, for a few years.

Improving attainment

Mohr Language Support, the charity that I manage, ran a pilot project in rural schools in Northumberland. We provided a dedicated EAL tutor who worked with pupils in small groups or one-to-one. Attainment levels were recorded over the period of support, in English, maths and science.

Continuity of support was guaranteed over the length of the pilot, which was up to three years in some cases. Progress in attainment was clearly visible, and the best results were in English writing, the most difficult area of language acquisition. The project demonstrated that the right support can make a huge difference to both pupil and school.

Despite this, it was found that the level of awareness around EAL in schools was poor, with basic problems such as teachers assuming a much higher level of English for pupils who had only been in the country for a few months.

There was also the misconception that EAL pupils frequently receive the pupil premium, which could be used to invest in their language support. In reality, most EAL pupils have one or two working parents who work long hours to ensure a good standard of living for their children and do not qualify for pupil premium. Pupil premium is not providing an answer to additional educational needs, such as EAL.

The new Pupil Equity Fund for schools in Scotland will most likely not be used for EAL either. The fund is based around pupils from P1-S3 who are entitled to free school meals (similar to pupil premium in England). Schools are already looking to pay for homework clubs, family meal sessions and holiday activities, all much needed for many youngsters and their parents. But the language deprivation of the 39,000 EAL pupils will go unnoticed.

What is needed is a ring-fenced, direct fund for EAL. Thousands of pupils are not being given the support they need, leading to academic and professional underachievement - and the society and economy missing out on their great potential.

Dr Beata Kohlbek is chief executive of the education charity Mohr Language Support