§ Lord Lester of Herne Hillasked Her Majesty's Government:
What proportion of pupils in public sector schools in the United Kingdom are taught the French or German language respectively. [HL244]
§ The parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Education and Skills (Baroness Ashton of Upholland)The department does not hold information on the proportion of pupils who are taught particular languages in public sector schools. Information which is available on numbers who enter for a foreign language GCSE in England, however, indicates that about 68 per cent take French and around 27 per cent take German.
It is not our policy to promote specific languages, although French and German remain the most popular subjects for study in secondary schools. Pupils have a statutory entitlement to learn at least one foreign language from the age of 11, and we want to support and enhance opportunities for language learning in primary schools. We have already published a scheme of work for primary French and materials for primary German. We have done a great deal to strengthen the position of foreign language teaching in schools, particularly through the Specialist Language Colleges. The expansion of the Specialist Schools programme, with their role as "hubs" of excellence, will provide enhanced opportunities for primary schools to access language expertise.