Education chiefs demand crisis talks after number of students studying modern language A-levels plunges to a record low
Students are favouring subjects like IT, economics and psychology
EDUCATION chiefs demanded crisis talks yesterday after the number of kids sitting French, German and Spanish A-Levels plunged to a record low.
Just 21,974 students took one of the three modern languages – 2.6 per cent of the total number of exams.
The number of 18 year-olds sitting French has dropped by a third in a decade to just 9,672.
Yesterday’s results showed kids were switching to computing – up 16 per cent in the past year – economics and psychology. College leaders and officials blamed a chronic teaching shortage.
Dr Mary Bousted, general secretary of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, said: “It’s disappointing and we fear this will continue to be the case because fewer language teachers are being recruited.”
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Russell Hobby, head of the NAHT union, said: “We need to ensure that there are enough trained teachers to offer a breadth of languages, and for schools to be supported to ensure primary pupils are also exposed to the challenges of learning a language.
“A national strategy is needed to address this continual decline.”
The Russell Group – which represents posh unis – said the drop in language studies would affect Brexit Britain’s chances of “engaging fully with the wider world” in business and diplomacy.