Foreign nationals who have completed a period of Crown service overseas are able to apply for naturalisation. British nationality law allows for discretion to be exercised over some of the residence requirements for naturalisation applications, if the customer can demonstrate they were in Crown service.

In most cases, people seeking to settle or naturalise in the UK will need to prove they have the required level of English depending on the route they are applying under. The English language requirement for each visa route is set out within the Immigration Rules for each individual route.

Appendix English Language of the Immigration Rules sets out how an applicant can meet this requirement. The English language requirements for naturalisation applications are set out in The British Nationality (General) Regulations 2003. This includes information about the options available to demonstrate the required level of English.

During her visit in February to Cameroon the Minister for Africa (Mrs Baldwin) met with the Prime Minister and the Ministers of External Relations, Territorial Administration, and Defence where they discussed the ongoing tensions in Cameroon's Anglophone regions. She reinforced the importance of respecting human rights in a challenging security environment. She also met with a range of Anglophone leaders to hear their concerns and throughout her visit stressed the need for peaceful, inclusive and purposeful dialogue. She has also written to President Biya and met with his Secretary General to urge dialogue.

The Foreign Secretary met the Cameroonian Prime Minister during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting and pressed for urgent action to resolve the dispute and associated violence. We continue to monitor the situation and engage constructively with both sides.

I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 12 April 2016 to Question 33691 to the hon. Member for East Ham (Stephen Timms).

The Army provides funded opportunities for personnel to gain Functional Skills in literacy and numeracy. Individuals may choose to pursue GCSE qualifications with the support of learning credits, but as this is a voluntary undertaking we do not track or record this information.

The Ministry of Defence has no established policy relating to time allowed to deliver GCSEs and Level 2 functional skills. Armed Forces Training Establishments follow the Guided Learning Hours (GLH) guidance provided by Education Awarding Bodies. The GLH as identified by the course governing body are used as a starting point when teaching functional skills. Our aim is to provide our trainees with a framework to achieve the qualification with the best possible support, not to achieve it within a certain period of time.

The Royal Navy normally allocate three weeks for guided learning functional skills courses delivered as part of longer professional skills development training. The GLH for each qualification in the Army is 45 hours; however this can vary depending on individual needs and other factors such as location. Time allocated to functional skills training in the RAF will depend on the establishment delivering the training with some schools allocating between 45 and 64 hours.

GCSEs are treated as elective courses for Service Personnel and time allocated for GCSEs is dependent on the individual and varies between four weeks for an intensive course and up to 16 weeks for a part time course. Army Personnel can undertake GCSEs or IGCSEs through evening classes run by the Army Education Centres and there will be a set programme linked to the GLH which is usually a minimum of 125 hours. The RAF and Navy offer courses which can be intensive or delivered over an extended period of time delivered by external providers.

All Armed Forces Training Establishments have the ability to deliver functional skills training and GCSEs flexibly and time allocated is dependent on the individual and their needs as reflected in each individual's learning plan.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not hold figures on the number of teachers employed to teach GCSE English and Mathematics. The Ministry of Defence provides Service personnel with a range of educational, learning, development and resettlement opportunities through a number of training centres and apprenticeship programmes. The main learning centres have English and Mathematics tutors who are employed to teach functional skills in numeracy and literacy and can also support GCSEs. However, teachers are not employed specifically to teach GCSEs.

Over 95% of recruits are enrolled into an Apprenticeship Programme each year, regardless of their age, which ensures that Service personnel gain a Level 2 in numeracy and literacy. This is the equivalent of a GCSE. In addition, there are Functional Skills Deliverers who work as part of apprenticeship delivery in the training establishments and can support learning for GCSEs. However, they are more focused on providing functional skills.

The Army provides opportunities for personnel to gain functional skills in literacy and numeracy. These are the standards that the Army has determined it requires and links these functional skills qualifications with promotion to certain ranks. Individuals are free to pursue GCSEs as part of their elective personal development with the support of learning credits schemes but the details of such GCSE qualifications are not held centrally.

The Ministry of Defence does not make financial provision to improve the Functional Skills (FS) of recruits before they are selected to join the UK Armed Forces.

For those who join the UK Armed Forces, there are clearly identified routes to ensure acceptable levels of FS. Over 95% of all recruits, no matter what their age or prior qualifications, enrol in an Apprenticeship Programme each year. Apprenticeships ensure that Service personnel (SP) will gain level 2 in literacy and numeracy - which is the equivalent to GCSE level. The Armed Forces also offer courses in a wide range of skills, such as engineering, information and communications technology (ICT), construction, driving, and animal care.

All recruits aged under 18 receive key skills education in literacy and numeracy, should they need it, and all are enrolled onto apprenticeships. The Armed Forces remain the UK's largest apprenticeship provider, equipping young people with valuable and transferable skills for life. Ofsted regularly inspects our care of newly joined young recruits, and we are very proud of the standards we achieve.

Since September 2012, Defence has adopted FS qualifications (FS (English) and FS (Mathematics)) as the accredited measures of literacy and numeracy skills for all SP accessing in-Service literacy and numeracy provision. Defence FS provision will be (in most cases) a blend of in-house and external provision. FS provision and qualifications have been available and publicly funded in England since September 2010, with the single Services funding the following elements:

Specialist manpower. Sufficient in-house specialist practitioners to meet the FS requirements that are not met from external or Skills Funding Agency and Education Funding Agency funded providers and, co-ordinate the delivery of that provision across their Service.

FS staff training. Training for in-house specialist practitioners and support staff to meet the required professional standards, where this is not externally funded.

Trainee costs. All direct and indirect costs incurred by Initial Training Establishments, where training has to be extended to cover FS provision to meet the minimum FS Entry Level 3 standard, by the start of Phase 2 training.

FS resources. FS support materials, essential ICT, audio-visual equipment and associated consumables, and any other essential resource costs.

The Ministry of Defence does not make financial provision to improve the Functional Skills (FS) of recruits before they are selected to join the UK Armed Forces.

For those who join the UK Armed Forces, there are clearly identified routes to ensure acceptable levels of FS. Over 95% of all recruits, no matter what their age or prior qualifications, enrol in an Apprenticeship Programme each year. Apprenticeships ensure that Service personnel (SP) will gain level 2 in literacy and numeracy - which is the equivalent to GCSE level. The Armed Forces also offer courses in a wide range of skills, such as engineering, information and communications technology (ICT), construction, driving, and animal care.

All recruits aged under 18 receive key skills education in literacy and numeracy, should they need it, and all are enrolled onto apprenticeships. The Armed Forces remain the UK's largest apprenticeship provider, equipping young people with valuable and transferable skills for life. Ofsted regularly inspects our care of newly joined young recruits, and we are very proud of the standards we achieve.

Since September 2012, Defence has adopted FS qualifications (FS (English) and FS (Mathematics)) as the accredited measures of literacy and numeracy skills for all SP accessing in-Service literacy and numeracy provision. Defence FS provision will be (in most cases) a blend of in-house and external provision. FS provision and qualifications have been available and publicly funded in England since September 2010, with the single Services funding the following elements:

Specialist manpower. Sufficient in-house specialist practitioners to meet the FS requirements that are not met from external or Skills Funding Agency and Education Funding Agency funded providers and, co-ordinate the delivery of that provision across their Service.

FS staff training. Training for in-house specialist practitioners and support staff to meet the required professional standards, where this is not externally funded.

Trainee costs. All direct and indirect costs incurred by Initial Training Establishments, where training has to be extended to cover FS provision to meet the minimum FS Entry Level 3 standard, by the start of Phase 2 training.

FS resources. FS support materials, essential ICT, audio-visual equipment and associated consumables, and any other essential resource costs.

The Government is committed to raising standards of literacy and numeracy for all pupils. We have strengthened the teaching of reading through rigorous phonics methods and placed greater emphasis within the primary curriculum and assessment on secure grasp of the essentials such as grammar, punctuation and spelling and fluency in mental and written calculation. We provide funding to secondary schools to help pupils catch up quickly and have announced resits for year 7 pupils in reading and mathematics.

Our reforms to mathematics and English at GCSE offer greater assurance that pupils with these qualifications will have the literacy and numeracy skills they need in employment, and we now require every 16-19 year old without a good pass in GCSE English and maths to study these subjects as part of their 16-19 programme.

In every aspect of this work the Department for Education is active in looking for ways to improve literacy and numeracy. We will look with interest at the work of the Armed Forces in this area.

Qualifications on entry, as recorded on the Joint Personnel Administration system, for those soldiers joining between 2 June 2012 and 3 June 2013 are summarised in the following table:

As at 3 June 2013, 22% of infantry soldiers are recorded as holding GCSE grades A* to C or Scottish standard grades 1 to 3 in English, and 15.2% of infantry soldiers are recorded as holding GCSE grades A* to C or Scottish standard grades 1 to 3 in mathematics.

Prior to 2007, when the Joint Personnel Administration (JPA) system was introduced, information on qualifications was not held centrally. Any qualifications gained before that date have not therefore been recorded unless an individual soldier has updated their JPA record.