Huge fall in number of schools where pupils must study a language

Nine out of 10 London state schools allow pupils to drop languages before they take their GCSEs, new research shows today.

The number of schools where studying a language past the age of 14 is compulsory has fallen from 32 per cent to 10 per cent in a year.

More and more pupils are being allowed to drop the subjects even though it means they cannot obtain the new English Baccalaureate qualification for which a foreign language is required.

The figures were produced by the National Centre for Languages. According to its research, fewer pupils in year 10 are currently studying a language than in year 11, so numbers taking GCSEs in the subjects will continue to fall.

Nationally, languages are compulsory in 89 per cent of independent schools.

French, Spanish and German are the most popular languages in London state schools, followed by Mandarin, Arabic and Urdu.

The centre is supporting a campaign calling for all secondary school pupils to have a working knowledge of a second language, and all graduates to be qualified in one.

Baroness Coussins, who chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Modern Languages, said England was joint bottom of a table of 39 developed countries for time spent on the subjects by 12- to 14-year-olds.

She added: "A national languages recovery programme is needed to improve our children's employment prospects and the influence of the UK on the international stage."

Education Secretary Michael Gove introduced the English Baccalaureate this year for students who obtain a good grade in five core subjects: English, maths, science, history or geography and a language.

Kathryn Board, chief executive of the centre, said: "The decision to include languages in the Baccalaureate signals the Government's recognition that a degree of competence in a foreign language is an essential part of everyone's education."

However, Linda Parker, director of the Association for Language Learning, said: "Teachers often have to struggle to get the curriculum time and structures they need to teach languages effectively."