The government must plan now to avoid a post-Brexit languages crisis, say a cross-party group of MPs and peers.
Trade talks after leaving the EU will need more UK officials with language skills, say the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Modern Languages.
Ministers say their reforms are already boosting language learning in schools. Launching a checklist on Brexit and languages, the group say lack of language ability loses the UK an estimated 3.5% of economic performance.
The country currently relies on the EU to negotiate trade deals but this will no longer be possible once the UK has left the Union, they add.
APPG co-chair Baroness Coussins called for "a national plan to ensure the UK produces the linguists we need to become a world leader in global free trade and on the international stage."
The group identify a need to boost skills in both European and non-European languages for the purposes of trade, international relations and security. In particular, they fear the loss of European language skills if EU nationals already living in the UK are not guaranteed residency status post Brexit.
They also want the UK to continue full participation in the Erasmus+ scheme, where young people study, work volunteer and train abroad in Europe, some working as language assistants in schools.
The checklist includes calls to:
- Guarantee residency status for EU nationals already living in the UK
- Continue full participation in Erasmus+
- Set up a national plan to boost language education from primary school through to post-graduate level
A Department for Education spokeswoman said government policies meant the number of students taking one language at GCSE was up from 40% in 2010 to 49% this year.
