Asking immigrants for ‘A-level English’ is absurd | Letters

Regarding Nesrine Malik’s article on the absurdity of the new requirements for some immigrants (A-level English, voluntary work, delayed citizenship: it’s Labour’s Orwellian Two Minutes Hate for immigrants, 20 October), there are indeed no criteria for an A-level standard of competence in the English language.

The English language A-level assesses the skills of linguistics to analyse how communication works, and also the capacity to write within the conventions of different genres, such as a detective story or a newspaper article.

Consequently, not only is it impossible for anyone to prove that they can perform at this standard but, equally, it’s impossible to prove that they cannot. I assume that in Labour’s contortions to satisfy the Reform UK-driven agenda, some civil servant checked this out before the policy announcement was made. So is this a ruse to be able to continue to recruit the desperately needed staff for the NHS and the care sector while appearing to pander to the far right?

If only the government could find the right words to explain that immigration is essential for all the flagging developed economies with declining birth rates, and that anti-immigration rhetoric has always been a manipulative distraction from the real issues of inequality and deregulation.

Given the clumsy, tin-eared communication coming out of this government, eroding support for Labour and widening the field for Reform in such an alarming manner, it seems that it’s the policymakers who need an A-level qualification rather than immigrants coming to make an essential contribution to Britain.
Pam Marshall
Retired English teacher, Sheffield

Nesrine Malik exposes Labour’s latest set of hurdles for immigrants for the spiteful, silly nonsense that they are. I’ve been wondering particularly how someone working and grappling with learning English to a standard equivalent to A-level will fit in volunteering – usually a daytime activity and requiring commitment and training.

But one option sounds perfect: we are certainly in need of fresh blood in this country, so why not mandate blood donation? Or perhaps that would be taking integration too far for the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood.
Christine Lehman
Ripon, North Yorkshire

If migrants are to be required to speak, read and write English to A-level standard, they may well become better qualified than those who teach it to them. The English requirement for postgraduate study in many UK universities is an International English Language Testing System score of 6.5. This is comparable to grade A or B at GCSE, significantly below A-level standard. Or is the “A-level” requirement simply to deter those wanting to gain permanent residence?
Bryn Jones
Bath

Learning a completely different language to a high standard is very difficult. My son has a Cambridge English degree and teaches young children from several countries. He is one of the cleverest people I know, but he tells me that he simply could not learn Tamil, with its 247 characters and complex grammar.

Maybe we have to accept that others might also struggle with the difference between their language and English. Functional spoken English and technical English, as required by a job, should be sufficient. That will, of course, be a high standard in some jobs.
Peter West
London