Commenting on Government figures revealing that the number of children with English as a second language is continuing to rise, Liberal Democrat Leader, Nick Clegg said:

"We must acknowledge that rising migration is putting pressure on schools at all levels, but also understand that the problems stem from the Government’s failure to plan for population changes - not from the existence of migrants.

"Structuring teaching around children with such varied English skills can be a real challenge for teachers, especially if there are many different languages in the classroom.

"Government support for schools with large numbers of students who don’t have English as a first language has been totally inadequate. Payments in some parts of the country to provide English language support have been less than £100 per pupil.

"I want to make sure every effort is made to give children good English skills in the pre-school years so all pupils can start on an even footing."