Professors Bernardette Holmes MBE and Toby Seddon and have been recognised for their excellence in the social sciences in the Academy of Social Sciences' (AcSS) spring 2023 Fellowships.

Bernardette Holmes MBE, who was conferred Honorary Professor at IOE in February 2023, has made major contributions to languages education in England through her work as a modern languages advocate, teacher, adviser, inspector, teacher trainer, researcher, curriculum and policy developer and author.  

She is an alumna of UCL (French with Classical and Medieval Latin) and IOE (PGCE in French and German with subsidiary studies in Sociology and Performing Arts), then known as the Institute of Education, University of London. She is Vice President of the Chartered Institute of Linguistics, Director of Speak to the Future, and consultant to the DfE for the development of the GCSE in British Sign Language.