Answer:

2010 Entry

Final figures on 2010 acceptances published by UCAS in 20 January 2011 reveal the following information related to languages:

We have seen an increase of 3.4% on 2009 entries in accepted applicants doing undergraduate degrees (including Foundation degrees). Go to the UCAS website for overall UCAS data.

Compared to the figures in 2009, the number of acceptances in

• Linguistics: 577 overall, increased by 5%
• French: 740 overall, decreased by 7%
• Spanish: 414 overall, increased by 7%
• German: 287 overall, increased by 1%
• Chinese: 176 overall, increased by 14%
• Japanese: 226 overall, increased by 2%
• Modern Middle Eastern Studies: 134 overall, increased by 7%

2009 Entry

2009 entry saw a mixed picture in students accepted for undergraduate programmes on languages:

• Students accepted to do a Single or Major French rose by 2% on 2008 and this was another year of growth. Overall, students accepted to do French (Single, Major, Double Joint and Minor) increased by 2% on 2008.
• On the other hand, despite a temporary increase in 2008, the number of students accepted to do German as a Major, Single, Double Joint or Minor in 2009 decreased by 4% on 2008.
• Spanish has been on an increasing trend overall despite a decrease in 2007. However, in 2009, the overall number of students accepted to do Spanish undergraduate programmes slightly decreased on 2008 (1%).
• Around 490 students were accepted to do undergraduate programmes in Russian and Eastern European studies, with an increase of 5% on 2008.
• The increase of Chinese Studies slowed down with around 467 students accepted in 2009. This indicates an overall decrease of 7% compared to the entries in 2008. This decrease might be temporary as compared to 2007, 2009 still saw an increase of 17%; therefore, further monitoring of data is needed.
• Japanese figures fluctuated over recent years. The number of students accepted to do Japanese in 2009 decreased by 4% (413 in total acceptances) on 2008, but compared to 2007, it still increased by11%.
• Number of students accepted to do Modern Middle Eastern Studies also fluctuated over recent years although 2009 entries saw a pretty strong increase on the previous year (18%, 457 acceptances overall).

Download statistics on single and major degrees from 2005 to 2010 from the UCAS website.

Click here for the CILT analysis of UCAS statistics (xls, 141kb), which include time series since 1996 in both applications and acceptances in languages with more figures (e.g., double joint, minor)

Click here to download the CILT analysis of UCAS statistics: regional breakdown (xls, 39kb) in Modern Languages applications and acceptances at UK universities, 2009 entry.

Data source:

HE student applications and acceptances data is managed by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS), from student application forms. UCAS data is different and not comparable to HESA data. UCAS data measures potential first-year full time first-degree students (applications and acceptances) only, whereas HESA data counts actual student registrations across all years of study of a wide variety of HE qualification aims.