Bridging the Key Stage 2/3 transition gap: Taking primary languages seriously

Rowena Kasprowicz | 4th June 2025 | Opinion Articles

In the following opinion article, Rowena Kasprowicz explores emerging research evidence demonstrating that, with the right conditions, linguistic progression is possible at primary school. Reflecting on this evidence and in light of the challenges for Key Stage 2/3 transition, Rowena argues for the importance of i) reducing variation in primary languages provision, and ii) facilitating robust communication channels between sectors to ensure that children’s language learning experiences at primary school are taken seriously.

The implementation of the Key Stage 2 Languages curriculum has been fraught with well-documented challenges for primary schools in England, including pressures on curriculum time, low staff confidence, variable teacher language knowledge, and limited staff training. Primary-secondary transition has been repeatedly highlighted as a particularly thorny issue.

Many primary schools have nevertheless been successful in providing the opportunity to learn a language as part of a broad and balanced curriculum. A growing body of research evidence (e.g. University of Reading’s Progression in Primary Languages project, PiPL) demonstrates that children can make progress in their language learning, commensurate with the National Curriculum objective that all students should make ‘substantial progress in one language’. Preliminary findings from PiPL (a longitudinal study examining French, German and Spanish learning from Years 3 to 6) reveal that with weekly, consistently planned 45-60 minute lessons, children steadily build their linguistic knowledge (e.g. vocabulary, phonics). Further, they can retain and recall language in creative, unscaffolded activities (e.g. writing a letter):

Examples of student creative writing in an unscaffolded task with no target language prompts given. These children receive 60-minutes of German teaching per week.

Example from Year 3 student ‘Sara’

Example from Year 5 student 'Tom'

Such findings highlight what can be achieved in the primary phase, when there is a commitment to protecting curriculum time for languages, provision of consistent and regular input following a structured scheme of work with progression mapped out, as well as leadership and parental support to emphasise the importance and status of languages in the curriculum.

Nevertheless, a lack of (even non-statutory) specific guidance at a national level regarding what children should be taught means that individual schools have been left to determine the exact nature of their languages provision. Shaped by each school’s priorities, resources, staffing and budget, languages provision can vary greatly between individual settings. Consequently, a student may leave primary school with a vastly different language learning experience to their peers in another school.

In terms of students’ transition from primary to secondary school, this variation can be problematic for secondary schools who may receive students from multiple feeders. Additionally, there is frequently a disparity between what a primary school believes they are delivering, in terms of their students’ progress in achieving the objectives set out in the National Curriculum Programme of Study, and how that learning is perceived by their local secondary school(s). Further, while both phases express a desire for effective lines of communication, 55% of primary schools report no contact with the secondary schools they feed into. The picture is further complicated by inconsistencies in whether a student will continue with the same language or start a new language from scratch when they reach secondary school.

Given these challenges, more often than not, the foundations laid at primary school are not built upon at secondary school and students often end up ‘starting again’ with learning (either the same or a different) language in Key Stage 3. This disconnect between language learning experiences across transition can be demotivating for students, but also for teachers who are committed to providing a rich and effective language learning experience at primary school.

Whilst the relationship between Key Stage 2 and 3 is complex and the challenges for transition undeniable, simply ignoring the language learning taking place at primary school undermines its status and importance in students’ minds and devalues the progress they have made by the end of the primary phase. Rather than casting primary languages aside, urgent attention is needed to establish greater cross-phase coherence by i) reducing variation in provision across primary schools, and ii) facilitating robust communication channels between sectors.

Detailed, non-statutory guidance on minimum content and expected learning outcomes for primary languages, as called for in the RiPL 2019 White Paper, would provide a benchmark to guide curriculum planning at both primary and secondary levels. Such guidance could facilitate greater consistency across primary schools, whilst enabling individual schools to retain autonomy in determining how the outcomes are met, taking into account their local context and student population. Greater consistency would reduce the variation in provision that currently exists and which is a key factor exacerbating the challenges surrounding Key Stage 2/3 transition. In turn, secondary schools could utilise such guidance to shape their own curriculum for new starters to ensure that it builds on, rather than dismisses, the language knowledge and skills students are developing at primary school.

Within local school networks, communication mechanisms need to be established from both sides of the divide, to enable cross-phase planning (i.e. primary schools prioritising foundational knowledge that will be built on at secondary school, and secondary schools taking account of students’ learning at primary school) and to ensure that information is shared about students’ progress when they move from one phase to the next. Lessons can be learnt from examples of successful primary-secondary collaborations, such as the Hackney Spanish First language initiative, where schools have coalesced around one language (Spanish) and developed an all-through curriculum to provide continuity across phases. Unifying provision to focus on one language is an approach taken by other school networks and is one route to simplifying transition. However, such an approach may not suit all school contexts. In situations where there is a change of language when students move to secondary school, the value of students’ language learning at primary school can still be recognised and celebrated, for example, by helping children to make cross-linguistic comparisons (e.g. of vocabulary, sounds, structures) and recognise the value of the language learning skills (e.g. understanding of learning processes) they have developed. While there is no one size fits all solution, more detailed guidance to streamline primary languages provision coupled with consistent communication across phases would provide a framework within which school networks can operate to ensure continuity and progression across transition.

Few would contest the benefits of language learning in childhood and its role in: establishing a foundation of linguistic knowledge and skills; developing creativity; and fostering empathy, curiosity, tolerance and intercultural understanding. Whilst considerable challenges remain, many primary schools have embraced the opportunity to provide children with exposure to a new language and culture. These efforts should be taken seriously in establishing smoother transition from primary to secondary school.

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About the Author

Rowena Kasprowicz is Associate Professor in Second Language Education at the Institue of Education, University of Reading. Rowena is a UKRI Future Leaders Fellow and leads the Progression in Primary Languages project. Rowena has conducted extensive research investigating language learning in the primary school classroom and actively contributes to efforts to bridge research and practice through work as a theme lead for the Research in Primary Languages network and Research Specialist for the former National Centre for Excellence in Languages Pedagogy.