A level results released today indicate that take-up of languages remains steady, amid concerns that languages are becoming an ‘elitist’ subject.

Total entries in modern languages this year are down by just 1.6%, a minimal amount in the context of the severe drop in entries seen over the last decade: in 1996 one in 10 candidates took A level French; in 2008 this had dropped to just one in 20. This year Spanish continues to rise steadily with an increase of 4%, while French has seen a slight decrease of 3.7%. Numbers taking A level German continue to drop with a decrease of 7.7%.

The results arrive amid concerns from experts that languages are becoming an ‘elitist’ subject. New figures from CILT, the National Centre for Languages show that 23% of acceptances to university language courses come from the independent sector, compared with less than 9% across all subjects.

Kathryn Board, Chief Executive of CILT, the National Centre for Languages, said: “We are very glad that the fall in numbers studying languages to GCSE is not having too great an effect on numbers continuing to A level. However, more needs to be done to address the skew towards privilege in terms of language study at school.The continued drop in teenagers studying German is a great cause of concern as Germany continues to be one of the UK’s biggest trade partners and the language is much in demand. 

“At the moment we are simply not producing enough linguists to supply the needs of international businesses. While young Britons continue to neglect language learning, they will find themselves at a serious disadvantage in the global economy. As well as a general lack of languages skills across the UK work force, we are also facing a severe shortage of English first language interpreters and translators, notably at international organisations such as the European Commission.”

Numbers taking A levels in languages other than the main three of French, Spanish and German continued to rise steadily - as they have done every year since 2002 - with an increase of 7.5% since 2008. Chinese is the most popular of the other languages with 39% of entries, an indication of its growing importance in our global economy.  It saw an increase in entries of 11.5% on last year. There were also increases in entries in Russian, Polish and Panjabi, which are all at their level since 2002.

CILT is working to ensure young people are taught about the value of languages in the workplace. Through its Languages Work project it offers teachers free resources to help raise awareness of the importance of languages. Initiatives such as Routes into Languages, which CILT manages jointly with the University of Southampton, are also encouraging more young people to continue with languages at university.