Professor Graham Virgo, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education at The University of Cambridge, said:

Linguists, including those who study at Cambridge, bring crucial skills to the UK and the outcome of the EU Referendum will only increase their importance.

I therefore strongly support the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Modern Languages' appeal to Government to ensure that improving the UK's language skills is treated as an urgent policy issue.

The UK faces a major shortage of language skills at a time when the country needs to overcome barriers, both linguistic and cultural, to forge new relationships in the World.

Cambridge recognises that Government, schools and universities will need to work closely together to strengthen language education, not least by supporting and inspiring teachers and students. We are committed to doing so.

I also strongly support the APPG's call to maintain the UK's full participation in the Erasmus+ scheme, which brings huge benefits not just to its participants but to the UK as a whole.

The APPG on Modern Languages has welcomed the contribution of the University’s 2016 report The Value of Languages which makes the case for a Government strategy on languages across a number of fronts including business, education and diplomacy. 

The report’s co-author, Professor Wendy Bennett, has written a comment piece about Brexit and the importance of languages for Britain http://www.cam.ac.uk/news/opinion-brexit-and-the-importance-of-languages-for-britain-4.