SAHA report calls for a National Languages Strategy for Scotland
A new report from the Scottish Arts and Humanities Alliance (SAHA), Languages in a Global Scotland, argues that languages and intercultural studies are key to the creation of a Global Scotland for the benefit of all, and references ITI’s joint report with ATC and CIOL as part of its evidence base.
The report was produced by SAHA’s Languages Working Group, chaired by Professor Catherine O’Leary and was published on 26 June 2026. It draws on expertise from across the Scottish higher education sector and aims to:
- provide an overview of the current position of languages education in Scotland
- outline the challenges and opportunities of language education for an increasingly multilingual Scotland in a globally interconnected world
- make recommendations for language and cultural education to help Scotland achieve its full potential
It argues that languages and intercultural understanding are essential to Scotland’s economic growth, community wellbeing, global competitiveness and national security, and challenges the perception that language skills hold limited value in a world dominated by English and AI.
Of the report’s 14 recommendations, several are closely aligned with issues that ITI has been raising with its own partners.
The report calls for a National Languages Strategy for Scotland (to be developed with the Royal Society of Edinburgh, SCILT, the British Council and the Scottish Government), and for this work to link with the British Academy’s parallel efforts on a UK-wide languages strategy. It also recommends structural reform in language education through the development of language hubs and shared staffing models with the aim of reducing professional isolation and stabilising provision in rural and low-uptake areas.
The report also calls for increased research into AI, to explore both the opportunities and the challenges it presents for languages and cultural understanding. This is an area of direct relevance to ITI’s own membership, as AI is already reshaping how translation and interpreting work is commissioned, delivered and valued. The recommendation therefore reinforces the case for the organisations and individuals within the sector to play an active role in AI research.
These recommendations reflect a concern that is shared well beyond Scotland: that political attention to languages has not kept pace with the evidence of their value. However, SAHA also acknowledges that no single organisation can make a substantive difference on its own. Linguists, educators, translators, interpreters, and researchers need to make common cause and more effectively coordinate our advocacy activities, rather than raising concerns in isolation.
ITI will continue to work with partners across the UK, including SAHA, to press the case for languages as a strategic asset for the whole of the UK, not just for those who study or use them professionally.
The full SAHA report is available at saha.scot.
