1.3m children do not speak English as first language

THE number of school children who do not speak English as their first language has soared by two-thirds in the past decade to nearly 1.3million, amid fresh concerns about the strain immigration is placing on schools.

Latest figures show that English is no longer the first language for the majority of pupils in more than 2,000 primary and secondary schools, equivalent to one in nine. In more than 200 schools, it as not the native tongue for nine in 10 pupils.

In some parts of London, including Newham and Tower Hamlets, the proportion of children who speak English as a second language now makes up as much as three-quarters of the school roll. In towns such as Slough, Luton and Leicester the figure is 50 per cent.

Children who do not have English as their mother tongue generally perform as well as native speakers and are val- ued in many schools for creating linguistic and cultural diversity. But critics warned that schools with large numbers of pupils who speak other languages may struggle to accommodate their particular needs – meaning other pupils get less attention.

Alp Mehmet, vice chairman of campaigning organisation Migration Watch UK, said: “The public are rightly concerned at the effect that this scale of immigration has on population growth, including a greater demand for school places and additional classroom facilities like interpreters, at a time when education budgets are stretched.”

The proportion of primary schoolchildren who do not speak English as their first language has risen from 13.5 per cent in 2007 to 20.6 per cent in 2017. In secondary schools it rose from 10.5 per cent in 2007 to 16.2 per cent this year. The overall number of children in schools who speak a first language other than English rose from 789,720 in 2007 to nearly 1.3 million.