We are delighted to announce that on Monday 17th November, our Year 9 Spanish students will begin their participation in the National Language Competition (NLC), a prestigious nationwide event run by GCHQ, one of the UK’s Intelligence and Security Agencies.
The competition, taking place from 17th–21st November 2025, is designed to inspire a passion for languages and highlight the wide range of transferable skills that language learning develops. The NLC is open to Year 9 students across England and Wales and invites schools to enter teams of four students who will compete in a series of fun, immersive, language-themed challenges.
Throughout the week, students will access a virtual platform either from their classrooms or at home, tackling tasks that range from beginner-friendly to extremely challenging. The activities involve a variety of world languages — including some invented ones — and encourage teamwork, perseverance, and creative problem-solving.
Teams will earn points across the five days, contributing to their position on a national leaderboard. The team with the highest score overall will be crowned the national winner, with the prize of an invitation to GCHQ’s headquarters in Cheltenham to receive their trophy.
This year, the competition for our school will be led by Mrs Reason and Mrs Miles, who will guide her Year 9 Spanish group through the challenges during lessons and supervised sessions.
We are incredibly proud of our students for taking part in such an exciting and ambitious event. We wish all our Year 9 linguists the very best of luck as they begin their language journey next week.
Good luck to all teams — we look forward to seeing how far they climb the leaderboard!
