The Department of Slavonic Studies wishes to express its serious concern about AQA’s decision to eliminate the Polish language A-level from 2018. Given that AQA is meant to offer ‘qualifications that meet the needs of teachers and students’, this recent announcement is puzzling. Polish is now the second most widely spoken language in the United Kingdom. Student demand for its instruction is growing exponentially across the board. At the University of Cambridge, we have recently launched a new academic programme in Polish Studies, which combines an innovative undergraduate curriculum on the language, literature and culture of Poland with a cycle of exhibitions, festivals and screenings open to the British public. Both our course offerings and our events are very popular and consistently oversubscribed.

The Polish language has become a vibrant part of British society. As UK universities like Cambridge work to institutionalise programmes dedicated to the language and culture of Poland, it is particularly troubling to see AQA move in the opposite direction. We call upon AQA and the UK Government to reconsider this decision and to continue to offer the Polish A-level for the benefit of a better British education.

Dr Rory Finnin
Head, Department of Slavonic Studies
University of Cambridge