ESOL: Our calls for change
English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) can be lifechanging for those who are learning English as a second language. As the Government reviews ESOL provision, our recommendations respond to this opportunity to make English language learning more accessible and relevant to adult learners today.
Changing lives and overcoming exclusion through language education
What's new?
Ahead of our first conference in 2026, we spoke to EAL learners who reflected on their early days in school and shared messages about the small actions, thoughtful approaches, and simple kindnesses that made a lasting difference for them.
For most prisoners, adjusting to the daily routine of prison life is no small thing. For someone who is new to English or in the early stages of English language learning, who may also be very far from home and potentially in a different country from their family and friends, the impact is even more profound.
To mark Gypsy, Roma, and Traveller History Month, we sat down with Sue Wardell, Director of Operations and Development at Suffolk Law Centre, one of our partners and currently in the third year of our grant funded programme which aims to make legal services more accessible to the local Roma community.
Refugee Week 2026 focuses on the theme of Courage. Courage isn’t always loud or bold. It can be found in simple acts. To support this, we’ve brought together a range of EAL resources that reflect the courage of learners from refugee backgrounds.
As part of our Practitioner Voices blog series, we invite our Licensed Practitioners from across the UK to write about their learnings, advice, and thoughts on EAL practice in their setting. Our first guest blog is written by Karolina Piera-Harris, who discusses how a book inspired teaching primary pupils about refugee perspectives.
We outline the key findings of our latest analysis, looking at how other countries approach language provision for those looking to develop proficiency in the language(s) of the country that they are seeking to live in.
This blog is a summary of a webinar presented by Gemma Donovan and Ben Sell from the International Schools Partnership (ISP). The full webinar can be viewed below.
Ofsted’s schools inspection toolkit now includes an explicit focus EAL. Explore our resource hub with practical resources, expert insights, and training to help schools prepare for inspection.
This blog shares practical thinking behind effective, EAL‑inclusive reading practice and key ways for supporting multilingual learners as readers.
The ESOL provision at Oldham College was nominated for a Beacon Award for Excellence in ESOL in recognition of their Community Interpreting course.
This blog explores how annotating texts can be a powerful tool for supporting multilingual learners in a variety of ways.
This blog highlights City of Liverpool College's award-winning ESOL provision, helping diverse learners gain language and vocational skills to integrate into society.
EAL is now back in the Ofsted toolkit, which has implications for schools at their next inspection. We sat down with Mark Sims, former His Majesty’s Inspector, to find out what this means in practice.
The following guidance mainly refers to primary settings. However, there are some elements that can be applied to secondary settings.
The Bell Foundation celebrates 10 Centres of Expertise nationwide. Emma Dobson, Director of Exceed Teaching School Hub in Bradford, reflects on our partnership and the impact of supporting teachers of EAL learners.
In this opinion piece for FE Week, our Director Diana Sutton explains that Lincolnshire’s move to cut English language learning for non-English speakers won’t help the region’s economy, and why a literacy programme is no replacement.
The Bell Foundation is seeking to expand its network of regional licensed partners running English as an Additional language (EAL) training. We are particularly interested in developing our offer further in London and the South East but welcome Expressions of Interest from other areas too.
In our latest piece for Headteacher Update, EAL expert and trainer Glynis Lloyd shares practical classroom strategies to strengthen reading for EAL learners – including explicit vocabulary teaching, structured talk to support comprehension, and recognising home languages as assets for learning.
Marking International Mother Language Day, The Bell Foundation highlights how embracing students' Home, Heritage, and Community languages boosts belonging, confidence, and attainment while offering practical ways schools can support multilingual learners.
This blog outlines how early years settings can help EAL learners settle confidently through inclusive environments, play-based language, and family partnerships.
This blog explores how international school leaders can embed multilingualism to build inclusive learning environments where every language is valued.
Read our response to the Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority's consultation on its proposed changes to adult skills funding and ESOL within the region.
This ITV story about the realities faced by asylum seeking children in UK schools features a school in Birmingham and how they tailor their provision for this group, as well as an interview with our Director Diana Sutton.
The ITTEC EAL Matrix defines the core knowledge, skills, and behaviours that underpin effective teaching of multilingual pupils who use EAL. It supports Initial Teacher Training (ITT) and Early Career Teacher (ECT) providers to embed consistent, evidence-informed EAL pedagogy across all subjects and phases.
Discover free resources, expert insights, and practical strategies from The Bell Foundation to support reading development for multilingual pupils as part of the National Year of Reading 2026.
This blog outlines the recommendations of Jacob Huckle, Head of Multilingual Learning at Dulwich College Suzhou, who offers a strategic, research-informed vision for what effective leadership looks like in multilingual international school settings.
Our Director reflects on how the events of the past year have shaped the Foundation's work in 2025.
The latest research from the University of Oxford provides new evidence about how an EAL learners’ time of arrival at school can impact their achievement – and why assessing proficiency in English is essential for schools to understand and unlock their potential.
This article explores the CLIL approach to teaching language and curricular content in a multilingual school context.
In this video blog, Zuzanna Zajaczkowska from St Mary’s Catholic Primary School shares five simple, effective classroom strategies for teachers, EAL coordinators, TAs and school leaders who are working with pupils who use English as an Additional Language (EAL).
In this blog we speak with Harry, Senior Researcher at High Trees, who oversees their community research projects in Lambeth. He told us about the key findings and recommendations from their latest research, funded by The Bell Foundation. The report looks at how we can better understand the challenges experienced by people who are in work when trying to access ESOL.
Explore our interactive story visualising 10 years of evidence on the attainment of EAL learners in England.
Why overcoming language barriers matters
Our partners, Pact, speak to an inmate who has participated in the Building Bridges project, which seeks to enhance the accessibility of these courses for speakers of English as a second or additional language (ESL) in prison.
Explore our interactive story to hear from learners, teachers, and experts about what schools can do to remove language barriers for EAL pupils.
In this clip we provide an overview of the current challenges around EAL provision in schools, and we speak to experts and school leaders about their key asks for an incoming government.
In this blog, Giulia Clericetti from Refugee Education UK (REUK) shares how their new ESOL training course, developed in collaboration with The Bell Foundation, has supported volunteer mentors who work with refugees as part of their Educational Mentoring Programme.
In this blog, Andy, a participant in Refugee Action’s Pathways to Work programme, speaks to his mentor, Ross, about what they’ve learned from each other through the programme and how to go about job hunting in the UK.
In this clip we provide an overview of the current challenges around English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) provision, and we speak to experts and students about these challenges and their key asks for an incoming government.
In this blog, we explore lessons from the programme run by the East of England Local Government Association’s Strategic Migration Partnership (EELGA SMP) to support refugees and asylum seekers with employment opportunities.
Rishan and Djafarou, from Kent Refugee Action Network (KRAN), spoke about their experiences since arriving in the UK and the importance of language support.
In this blog, we speak to Harry Jenkins (Senior Researcher) and Elly Townsend (Head of Research & Development) at High Trees about their work, funded by The Bell Foundation, to make ESOL provision more accessible and the exciting findings from their first course.