Over 40 languages are spoken in Cambridgeshire and the main and relatively established community languages are Bengali (Sylheti dialect); Cantonese, Punjabi and Urdu.

New communities speaking languages other than English are also growing in areas with traditionally less linguistic diversity. There are increasing numbers of Portuguese and Polish speakers in Fenland and East Cambridgeshire, and Tagalog and Malayalam speakers in areas around the hospitals. As a result, there are increasing numbers of children who are new to English in Cambridgeshire schools and the overall percentage of bilingual children is increasing across the county (3.6% in 2004 compared with 2.2% in 1997). In Cambridge City the figure is particularly high at 13%.

Bilingual children receive additional support in schools through a variety of initiatives:

• Ethnic Minority Achievement Grant (EMAG) teacher, Bilingual and/or Teaching Assistant support in schools with significant numbers of BME and bilingual pupils.
• Short term Teaching Assistant support for new arrivals.
• Literacy and Numeracy for All projects, supported by CREDS staff.
• Advanced EAL writing skills project for identified secondary aged Bangladeshi and Pakistani pupils.
• Training for school staff in working with children learning EAL.
• Celebrating Languages website.