Spanish most popular A-level language in schools

Spanish is predicted to remain the most popular A-level language in schools across England while German falls behind at GCSE level, according to new British Council research.
 
The new Language Trends 2023 report surveyed teachers at more than 1,300 primary, secondary and independent schools across England to gather information about language teaching and learning.

For GCSE and A Levels, while French, Spanish and German still dominate language take-up at GCSE level, the report shows more than 35,000 entries for Other Modern languages, the highest number recorded in a Language Trends report.
 
At A-level, Spanish is the most popular language for the fourth year running with 8,496 entries, knocking French out of the top spot.
 
Just one in ten responding state schools report that all their pupils are taking a language for GCSE, compared to three in ten independent schools. It is important to note, however, that state schools reported a positive increase in pupils studying a language at KS4 over the past three years.
 
The data also confirm there is still a considerable way to go to accomplish the government’s ambition that 90% of young people in Year 10 take a GCSE in a Modern Foreign Language by September 2025.  
 
Nine out of ten responding primary schools taught languages in 2022-2023. Like 2022’s findings, 82% of schools said they have taught languages for at least the past five years, an increase from 78% in 2021. 
 
However, research shows lesson time is constricted, with one third of respondents saying language lessons have been affected by pupils spending extra time on literacy and numeracy. Meanwhile more than two thirds (71.8%) of primary school teachers said they received no funding to develop resources for language teaching this year.
 
While French continues to be the most taught language in primary schools, research indicates some variation of the languages being offered, with Latin appearing in the ‘top four’ for the first time. 
 
Nearly half (49%) of primary schools reported having contact with local secondary schools in relation to language learning, reflecting an increase of 9% from data collected in 2022.
 
A positive outcome from this has been slow to emerge though, with only 9% of responding secondary schools saying Year 7 pupils are better prepared for language learning.
 
French continues to be the most popular language at Key Stage 3, taught in 87% of responding state schools and 97% of responding independent schools, followed closely by Spanish in 75% and 93% of state and independent schools respectively.
 
German is much more secure in the independent sector than the state sector, but still trails French and Spanish. 
 
After the “Big 3”, Chinese (Mandarin) is the most popular language taught as a full curriculum subject in state secondary schools.  Latin holds this spot in the independent sector.

The Department for Education has invested £14.9m to establish a National Consortium for Languages Education (NCLE), a programme to be run by University College London, British Council and the Goethe-Institut to establish a cluster of “Hub Schools” to increase uptake of language qualifications in KS4 & 5. There will be a particular emphasis on increasing the uptake of German.  
 
In comparison with independent school figures, German numbers are lower in state secondary schools by around 40% at Key Stages 3 and 4, and 35% at post-16. The NCLE also aims to improve the transition from Key Stage 2 to Key Stage 3 and provide more opportunities for disadvantaged pupils.
 
Dr Ian Collen said: “The data from this year’s Language Trends report show clear areas for improvement in schools across England, particularly in relation to the time and resource placed in language learning and the uptake of German at GCSE and A Level. 
 
“However, it is reassuring to see positive steps being taken by decision-makers to improve languages in England. We hope to report on the positive effects implemented and supported by the new NCLE and its GIMAGINE project in future Language Trends research.”