Languages: GCSE
(asked on 21st May 2025) - View Source
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of pupils entered for a GCSE in the current year are taking (1) French, (2) Spanish, (3) German and (4) other foreign languages; and what proportion took those exams in 2010, 2015 and 2020.
This question was answered on 13th June 2025
The requested information is shown in the following table. Data relating to 2025 will be published in autumn 2025.
Percentage of pupils entering modern language GCSEs at the end of key stage 4
Language | 2019/20 Academic Year | 2014/15 Academic Year | 2009/10 Academic Year |
French | 20 | 25 | 25 |
German | 7 | 9 | 10 |
Spanish | 17 | 14 | 9 |
Arabic | Z | 0 | Z |
Chinese | Z | 1 | Z |
Italian | Z | 1 | 1 |
Polish | Z | 1 | Z |
Urdu | Z | 1 | Z |
Other Modern Language | 4 | 2 | 3 |
To note:
- The data covers all schools in England.
- Percentages represent the percentage of pupils at the end of key stage 4 who entered each GCSE subject.
- 'Z' denotes that no data was available.
- 'Other Modern Languages' is not comparable over time. The languages included in 'Other Modern Languages' have changed since 2009/10. If a modern language was reported as the individual subject for the academic year, then it will not have been included in the Other Modern Languages group. For example, Italian was included in Other Modern Languages in 2019/20, but was reported as a separate subject in 2009/10 and 2014/15.
- Data is revised.