Slater has been picked in Stuart Lancaster’s 35-man training squad for this season’s Six Nations tournament alongside his Leicester Tigers teammates Dan Cole and Ben and Tom Youngs.
The uncapped Slater had been called up for the England tour to Argentina last summer but missed out through injury.
Now he replaces injured Tigers teammate Geoff Parling in the training squad, and joins Dave Attwood, Joe Launchbury and Courtney Lawes as Lancaster’s second row options.
Slater said: “You can’t expect these things. After the summer, I told myself to get on with the job at Leicester and then, if it happens, it happens.
“Getting picked in the summer was a huge thing for me and to get the call to say I would be part of the Six Nations squad is absolutely massive.
“I didn’t expect to be involved – it is a huge honour to be part of the squad.
“For me, it’s about getting involved with the squad, getting myself in the environment and going down there, carrying on what I’ve been doing at Leicester.”
Click here for the full England, Saxons and Under-20s squads.
