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Small to medium size enterprises (SMEs) are increasingly looking to foreign nationals to fill vacancies that require more than one language, reports the Guardian.

Leonard Orban, the EU commissioner for multilingualism, told the paper that Britons are losing out on jobs because of their lack of foreign language skills.

"British graduates are missing out on some of the best jobs at home and abroad because they are on the whole monolingual," he told the news provider.

Adding: "An English mother-tongue candidate with additional languages has an even more competitive edge."

The Guardian said the comments come after the European Commission announced a shortage of native English-speaking interpreters.

However, the EU's director of interpretation told the newspaper that UK graduates with French and German language skills are not always suitable for interpreting jobs because of their poor knowledge of English grammar.

Meanwhile, teachers in Liverpool have hit out at their council's decision to name and shame poorly performing schools, reports the Liverpool Echo.

By 2011 ministers want at least 30 per cent of school children to get five A-C grades at GCSE, including maths and English.

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