Back

Literature Review: Experiences of the Scottish social security system among people for whom English is a second language

This literature review, commissioned by the Scottish Commission on Social Security and produced by The Lines Between, examines the experiences of people for whom English is a second language in navigating the Scottish social security system.

Download report

Contents

2. Prevalent languages spoken in Scotland

2.1 Introduction

This chapter considers literature on what languages are prevalent among the Scottish population, and more specifically, social security users. Census data is a key source of information on prevalent languages used, but does not provide a full, detailed current picture across the population. The latest Scotland’s Census (2022), for instance, does not account for more recent developments in migration patterns, such as the resettlement of people displaced by the war in Ukraine or other humanitarian crises Prevalent languages among the Scottish Population

A large variety of languages are spoken in Scotland. The 2022 Census provides the most up to-date data on the composition of Scotland’s population and languages spoken across the country.¹ Census participants were asked to report on the main language spoken at home (shown in Table 1). The results indicate that English remains overwhelmingly the main language spoken in Scotland, with 94% of the population reporting it as their main language. Among Scotland’s other official languages, the Census data shows that 13,433 people speak mainly Scots and 3,551 mainly Gaelic.

Table 1: Main Languages spoken at home in Scotland²

Main language spoken at home (n= 5,294,863)

	English	Scots	Gaelic	Sign language	Other
No. of people aged 3 and over	5,002,242	13,433	3,551	2,619	273,015

Both Scots and Gaelic are increasing in prevalence among Scotland, supported by targeted Scottish Government policy to revive these languages.⁵ The Scottish Languages Act 2025 formally granted official status to Gaelic and Scots, providing an overarching framework and targets to increase the presence of both languages in Scottish communities, education settings, and local authorities.⁶ In the 2022 census, over 1.5 million people reported themselves as speaking Scots, with 1.17 million of these able to speak, read and write Scots.⁷ The highest proportions of Scots speakers were found on The Shetland Islands, Aberdeenshire, Moray and Orkney Islands.

While spoken by a smaller proportion of the population than Scots, Gaelic remains culturally and linguistically significant and its prevalence is increasing. The 2011 Census records just over 57,000 people able to speak Gaelic, whereas the 2022 Census reports an increase to 69,701.⁸ ⁹

One study of Gaelic speakers in Glasgow found the most frequent users of Gaelic were parents/carers of a child in Gaelic education. A quarter of respondents reported being raised in a Gaelic speaking household, with 41% of those also being raised in a Gaelic speaking community. Of those raised in a Gaelic speaking household, under half identified as native speakers.¹⁰ Another recent study of Gaelic speakers in Glasgow found only one-tenth used Gaelic in non-social settings, such as when speaking with GPs or paying for shopping. Despite 80% of the study’s respondents describing themselves as fluent Gaelic speakers, confidence in their spoken ability was less strongly reported and most did not feel confident speaking Gaelic when using public services or visiting businesses in Glasgow¹¹. In contrast to the previous study, most of these participants had learnt Gaelic as adults.

Most Gaelic speakers are currently found in the northwest Highlands and Islands or Scottish cities;¹² Scotland’s Census 2022 found Na h-Eileanan Siar is the most prominent Gaelic speaking council area with 57.2% of its population having some Gaelic skills.¹³ Data from the 2011 Census indicates that those living in Barra, Vatersay, Eriskay, South Uist and northern Lewis were more likely to speak Gaelic than not, with between 1.1% to 1.5% of people in these areas having no skills in English, mostly due to speaking Gaelic¹⁴.

Beyond Scotland’s official languages, the 2022 Census recorded that 273,015 people living in Scotland (5.2% of the overall population) speak mainly “other languages”.¹⁵ The Census, however, does not provide a breakdown of specific languages and therefore it is not possible to identify which “other languages” are likely to be prevalent among the Scottish population from this source.

Information about specific languages may be drawn from census data on countries of birth and the 2022 Census illustrates the diversity of the Scottish population (shown in Annex 2). Many European countries are strongly represented in this data, as part of the legacy of the United Kingdom’s past membership of the European Union. The UK was previously a popular destination country for EU migrants, with data from 2016 describing a five-year increase in the number of European Economic Area (EEA) nationals living in the UK from 700,000 to 3.3 million people.¹⁶ Approximately half of these migrants moved from Poland and Romania, with a further 24% entering from Italy, Portugal and Spain, most likely triggered by high levels of unemployment in Southern Europe.¹⁷

While data on country of birth may indicate what languages might be present in the Scottish population, data on country of birth and ethnicity are possibly unreliable indicators of the language’s individuals use in practice. Many countries are linguistically diverse, for example India, China or Nigeria are well-documented as multilingual societies, with dozens or even hundreds of recognised major or regional languages.¹⁸ Migrants may also fluently speak multiple languages, including English, particularly where they come from minority language communities within their country of birth, or where borders cut across linguistic groups.¹⁹ ²⁰

Although the 2022 Census asked about the “main language” spoken at home, it did not break the data down into specific community languages²¹.²² In 2011, Census data reported that Polish was the most widely spoken minority language, with around 54,186 people reporting it as their first language.²³ This is followed by Chinese languages (including Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese, Hakka, Min Nan Chinese, and Chinese), spoken at home by 27,903 people. Urdu (23,394 people), Punjabi languages (23,238 people) and French (14,623) also feature prominently. While many of these languages will likely still be prevalent within the Scottish population, the 2011 Census cannot be deemed to provide a reliable, representative picture of the Scottish population in 2026.

Providing a more up-to-date data source, the 2024 Scottish Schools Pupil Census further strengthens the understanding of languages spoken within Scotland (see Annex C).²⁴ In 2024, Polish was the most common non-English language among Scottish school pupils (17,253 pupils), followed by Urdu (7,899 pupils) and Arabic (7,111 pupils). It should be noted, however, that the data only represents pupils within state-funded education and does not include young people outwith the school system or those educated in independent schools.

2.2 English proficiency where English is a second language

The Scotland’s Census 2022 found 94.2% of all people living in Scotland said they speak, read and write English well or very well, compared to 93.8% in 2011.²⁵ English proficiency datasets have been published for Scotland’s Census 2022²⁶. These show 9,067 people living in Scotland have no skills in English, 19,727 understand spoken English only, 46,535 speak and read English but do not write English and 157,969 speak but do not read or write English. It should not be assumed that people with English as a second language have greater literacy challenges than others. Recent data is not available on English proficiency in the UK. The 2012 International Survey of Adult Skills found that English as an additional language had no significant correlation with low literacy levels. However, this illustrates the risk of viewing English as a second language as a homogenous group, as English proficiency can vary significantly among those with English as a second language. An analysis of 2021 Census data from England and Wales found variations in English use and ability to speak English. Those who migrated at a younger age or who had lived in England and Wales for a long time were more likely to report speaking English as their main language.²⁷ This is likely to be similar for those living in Scotland too, though cannot be substantiated based on the available data.

2.3 Languages among social security users in Scotland

Data in the 2022 Census data indicates that most social security users in Scotland can communicate in English to some degree. This does not, however, account for the remaining 5.5% who mainly speak another language at home.²⁸ It can also not be assumed that reported English language skills remove the need for multilingual support. Data for the most recent client satisfaction survey by Social Security Scotland found that just over 75% of respondents reported English as their main language and just under a quarter (8,713) had another main language.²⁹ This suggests a higher proportion of non-English main-language speakers among social security applicants compared with the general population, however, no contextual information is given so it is unclear why the rate is so high.

Even where clients report speaking English, there may be limited proficiency or confidence levels, or a preference to use first languages when interacting with public services. While recognising the importance of English, migrants may choose to switch between different languages in different contexts.³⁰ Research by Stella and Kay found that migrant ESOL learners felt it was important to speak English to deal with public bodies and utility companies and to increase employment opportunities.³¹ Scottish Government research, however, has found that some who could speak English in a face-to-face conversation, did not feel comfortable reading websites and official information materials due to concerns about misunderstanding complicated and technical language.³² The evidence implies that while people with first languages other than English may report speaking English, or speak English at home, they may prefer their first language in official settings, particularly where stress or bureaucratic processes are involved.

Given that people who speak other languages may prefer to use their first languages in official contexts, it is important to understand the languages prevalent among current or potential social security users in Scotland, however, there is a paucity of data on the prevalence of specific languages spoken by current social security users. Social Security Scotland funds interpretation and translation costs for clients who need information in languages other than English, but does not routinely publish comprehensive data on demographics, languages, or translating services. It offers interpreter support in over 100 languages for phone applications and provides translations of publicly available benefits information and documentation, such as fact sheets, in the following twelve languages:³³

Arabic
Farsi
Gaelic
Kurdish Sorani
Lithuanian
Polish
Romanian
Russian
Slovak
Traditional Chinese
Ukrainian
Urdu

Some insight on language prevalence can be found in responses to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to Social Security Scotland, which indicates languages spoken among clients. For 2022, the top five language translations procured by Social Security Scotland were Polish, Arabic, Ukrainian, Romanian and Urdu. Over the 2024/2025 financial year, Social Security Scotland provided translations of 75 languages, spanning:

Afrikaans
Albanian
Amharic
Arabic
Assyrian
Belarusian
Bengali
British Sign
Language
Bulgarian
Cantonese
Croatian
Czech
Dari
Dutch
Edo
Estonian
Farsi
Filipino
French
Georgian
German
Greek
Gujarati
Hindi
Hungarian
Italian
Japanese
Khmer
Konkani
Korean
Krio
Kurdish
Kurmanji
Kurdish
Sorani
Latvian
Lingala
Lithuanian
Malay
Malayalam
Mandarin
Mandinka
Nepalese
Norwegian
Oromo
Polish
Portuguese
Punjabi
Pushto
Romanian
Romany
Russian
Scottish
Gaelic
Sinhalese
Slovak
Slovenian
Somali
Spanish
Swahili
Swedish
Sylheti
Tamil
Telugu
Thai
Tigrinya
Turkish
Twi
Ukrainian
Urdu
Uzbek
Vietnamese
Welsh
Wolof
Yoruba³⁴

Breakdowns of Social Security Scotland costs for translation may show the prevalence of languages among social security users. Data drawn from a FOI response notes that the highest costs were for translations into: Arabic, Farsi, Gaelic, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Ukrainian, Urdu, and Traditional Chinese.³⁵

When considering current and future language prevalence, consideration of the current and potential population profile of social security users in Scotland is important. Recent ethnicity data from the Social Security Equalities survey shows that 85% of applicants for social security benefits were White (including ‘Scottish’, ‘Other British’, Irish, ‘Gypsy/Traveller’, Polish and ‘Other white ethnic group’ identities, with 3% Asian, 1% African, and 8% preferring not to give an ethnicity.³⁶ It should be noted, however, that this data is taken from equalities forms submitted by clients alongside their benefits applications.

Social Security Scotland notes that equalities form response rates are lower among those who make telephone applications for Adult Disability Payment, Child Disability Payment, and Pension Age Disability Payment.³⁷ Online and postal application forms are in English only, and telephone applications are the only form of application for which Social Security Scotland offers an interpreting service, Equalities data, therefore, could be less representative of the diversity of clients, and their range of respective languages, who apply for these benefits.

Increased migration to Scotland warrants careful consideration of the country’s changing demographics and the implications for Social Security Scotland. There is evidence of the growing presence of minority ethnic communities within the groups strongly associated with social security usage. For example, although no official data exists on the relationship between minority ethnic status and receipt of disability benefits, people who belong to minority ethnic backgrounds nonetheless comprise 3.7% of those with a reported learning disability or developmental disorder.³⁸ ³⁹ This compares to Census 2022 data suggesting 7.1% of the population are from a non-White ethnic group, or 12.9% of the population from any ethnic group (non-White and White minority groups combined). Similarly it is estimated that the number of Black and minority ethnic unpaid carers has risen by 143% between 2011 and 2022, from 14,458 to 35,375, with the latter figure representing 5% of the estimated total number of carers in Scotland.⁴⁰ ⁴¹ The authors note a significantly faster increase than the white majority. Given that disabled people and unpaid carers are among the groups most likely to access benefits, this has direct implications regarding languages people may use when engaging with Social Security Scotland⁴² ⁴³.

2.4 Summary

Scotland’s population is ageing and becoming increasingly diverse, with deaths now significantly outnumbering births and recent population growth largely being sustained by migration. While most people in Scotland were born in Scotland and speak English as their main language, migration over the past two decades has increasingly come from non English-speaking countries, alongside continued migration from the rest of the UK and the EU. The data on language prevalence reflects this change. Alongside growing numbers of Scots and Gaelic speakers, over 5% of the population mainly speaks another language at home, with the most prominent including Polish, Arabic, Ukrainian, Romanian, and Urdu. Evidence suggests that English proficiency varies widely and that many people who can speak English prefer to use their first language when interacting with public services, particularly in stressful situations. Social Security Scotland therefore serves a population with diverse language needs and a growing demand for interpretation and translation services.