I was initially rejected from Cambridge. Three days after A-Level results day, I was offered a place to study HSPS through the August Reconsideration Pool. I didn’t immediately accept the offer, much to the confusion of my friends and family. In fact, I was torn. Until then, I thought I was going to the University of Bristol to study Politics and Spanish; ultimately, my decision was based more on the importance I placed on studying Spanish than Cambridge’s prestige. A year on, I am able to reflect on what it’s like to navigate language learning at a university that often does little to encourage it.

A bit confused and suffering from academic whiplash, I decided to put my Spanish A-Level to good use by enrolling on an advanced Spanish course through the Cambridge University Language Programme (CULP). The CULP offers general courses at various levels in 17 different languages, as well as more specific courses such as ‘Chinese for business’ or ‘Italian for musicians’. The CULP is a melting pot of students and staff from across the university; where else could I have taken an online conversation class alongside a Baroness calling in from the House of Lords? The teaching itself was also amazing, and I was able to get a C1 qualification at the end of the course at no extra cost. I loved the course so much that this year, I am taking a beginners’ French course, as well as another Spanish course.

“The CULP is a melting pot of students and staff from across the university; where else could I have taken an online conversation class alongside a Baroness calling in from the House of Lords?”

These courses are amazing, but they are far from free. They are undoubtedly excellent value for what they are, and some colleges will cover the cost of them. As always seems to be the case, my college, Lucy Cavendish, will only pay for them if they are “relevant to your degree”. My attempt to argue that learning a second language is crucial to the study of anthropology (which I stand by!) was not as successful as I hoped it would be.

So, I sent an email to the CULP, suggesting that they introduce an access scheme for Cambridge Bursary students similar to the Cambridge Union in order to address this collegiate disparity. To my great surprise, Professor Nebojša Radić, the first and, 23 years later, only director of the CULP, offered to meet with me. Given that the CULP has enjoyed a 30% increase in student numbers this year, the CULP is operating at a “slight surplus” he was happy for the CULP to introduce a more centralised language bursary. In his words, “the best way to use this money is to pass it on to the students”.

Despite this, Radić did note that students self-funding their language courses were far more likely to complete them. The aforementioned courses for specific purposes tend to be funded by the departments of the students taking them. As a result, these courses often have drop-out rates of up to 70%. The general language programme, by contrast, has an 85% completion rate. This is easily worked around, however. Radić suggested that any centralised language bursary refund students once they had completed their course.

“Cambridge is unusual in its lack of flexibility when it comes to studying languages”

This is an exciting step towards making language learning more accessible, but the barriers to language at Cambridge learning go far beyond the financial. Cambridge is unusual in its lack of flexibility when it comes to studying languages; every other university I applied to allowed me to combine Politics with Spanish. Even Oxford offers five joint honours language courses. Cambridge currently offers just one: History and Modern Languages.

This unusual lack of language learning opportunities seems particularly strange at a time when the study of languages is in decline. But, as a 2022 report from the British Academy and University Council of Modern Languages notes, the number of students accepted to study a language alongside a social science subject increased by 11% at Russell Group universities, while the single honours study of these languages continued to fall. Indeed, applications to study MML at Cambridge fell by 40% between 2019-23, prompting the department to start the development of two new joint honours language courses. In a world where graduates face a tougher job market than ever before, it is counterintuitive not to structure language degrees in a way that reflects our changing language learning patterns.

Not only are joint honours language degrees few and far between at Cambridge, few triposes include the option of taking a language as an ‘outside’ module. Take my own degree, HSPS. It is probably one of the most flexible triposes at Cambridge, given that it is the social sciences’ answer to Natural Sciences. Amongst my Part IIa options were everything from archaeology to biology. Yet, no option to study a language, not to mention the opportunity of a year abroad.

Again, this is common elsewhere in the higher education sector. Nilyana Kirinde, an Economics and Finance student at the University of Leeds, was able to take one Russian paper. She noted that this gave her the opportunity to “use [her] brain for something not related to my degree”, which expanded her “future pathways”.

So, jealous of my friends at other universities with all their language modules and armed with my Spanish C1, I made my case to the HSPS faculty. My DoS, who had long listened to me lament not being able to study Spanish within my degree, thought it feasible, as did the paper coordinator for the paper in question, given that it was often taken by English students. But as the deadline to submit my Part IIa paper options loomed, it became increasingly clear that, as a result of bureaucratic particularities, the HSPS faculty was not going to budge. I was told that languages are not a “social science”, so they could not justify allowing me to take a Spanish paper.

Some may ask why I did not switch to MML. Honestly, I have considered it, but I love HSPS and am incredibly grateful for the CULP. At the end of the day, all decisions have trade-offs, and I am content with – and grateful for – the decision I made to accept my Cambridge offer. However, I wish it had not, at times, come at the expense of my love for languages.