When new entrants start and they order their uniform, we ask what they want on their name badge (ie full name or just first name) and what languages they speak. I always suggest that by "speaking a language", they don't necessarily need to be fluent but should be able to comfortably look after customers who speak that language as they would in English ie, offer the service, explain any announcements made by the Senior or the Flight Crew, help with flight connections and basic chit chat. So a GCSE pass wouldn't, in my mind, suffice for a language flag but BA don't specify a language policy as such.

In a previous life for language speakers (in the days when at BA it was mandatory to have a second language, but for us it was preferable), we used to do an interview (later done separately by phone) for language speakers. They would be given a time when they'd have to take a call and have to have a conversation with a native speaker and also read some things out. Then given a scenario and have to make an adhoc announcement. It was quite strict because for each language flag pin under your name badge you received a language speaker payment.

The only time on Mixed Fleet when languages have any preference as such on rostering, is our Asian language speakers. Japanese speakers (HND), Korean speakers (ICN) and Mandarin speakers (CTU, SIN/SYD) are pre rostered a number of trips a month as a language of destination speaking crew member, then outside of these prerostered trips they can bid for the type of work they want to do. To be recognised as a language speaker officially for this purpose, they have been recruited specifically and had to sit a language exam and have a language speaker code next to their name on the cabin crew briefing sheet. This isn't the case for any other languages, even when we have say German speakers, they wouldn't automatically get a preference in flying to DUS or HAM sadly.