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Written question asked by Jim Cunningham (Labour) on Wednesday, 6 March 2019, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 11 March 2019 (named day). It was answered by Nick Gibb (Conservative) on Monday, 11 March 2019 on behalf of the Department for Education.

Languages: Education

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department has made of the number of 16 to 18 year olds in full-time education studying foreign language courses in each year since 2010.

Answer

The number of 16-18 year olds studying modern foreign languages is not held centrally, but the number of students entering an A level exam in any modern foreign language has been provided as a proxy.

The number of entries by students at the end of their 16-18 study in England for 2009/10 to 2017/18[1] inclusive is provided in the tables below. Further information can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/a-level-and-other-16-to-18-results-2017-to-2018-revised.

Number of entries (thousands)

2009/10

29.9

2010/11

29.2

2011/12

28.4

2012/13

27.3

2013/14

26.5

2014/15[2]

27.7

2015/16

26.8

2016/17

26.5

2017/18[3],[4]

25.8

Source: 16-18 attainment data.

[1] Covers examination results of students aged 16, 17 or 18 at the start of the academic year, i.e. 31 August 2017.

[2] Figures from 2012/13 to 2014/15 cover students at the end of advanced level study who were entered for at least one A level, applied single award A level, applied double award A level or combined A/AS level in the reporting year. Figures for earlier years cover students who were entered for at least one A level, applied single award A level, applied double award A level or combined A/AS level in the summer of the reporting year.

[3] Figures for 2015/16 onwards cover students at the of advanced level study who were entered for at least one A/AS level, applied single A/AS level, applied double A/AS level or combined A/AS level during their 16-18 study. As a result there has been a large increase in the number of A level students since 2016 and therefore figures are not directly comparable to earlier years.

[4] 2018 figures are based on revised data. Figures for all other years are final.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
229081
Session
2017-19
Subjects
Children Education Languages Young people
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk