The surprise language overtaking French as the most popular studied at all senior school levels in Scotland

The change has been highlighted in a first-of-its-kind report called Language Trends Scotland, published by the British Council today, which also shows the impact of the decline of some languages in schools.

Close to two-thirds of Scottish state secondaries reported in a survey they are now teaching language classes containing S4 pupils who are at different levels to make the courses viable, while staff also highlighted timetabling pressures.

The challenges continue in S5 and S6 and courses often do not run if numbers are low, the research found. Combined together, data shows entries for French, German and Spanish have declined by 27 per cent at Higher in a decade, and by almost 20 per cent for Advanced Highers.

However, the report also highlighted positive signs, with language entries at National levels 2 to 5 rising by 6 per cent since 2019.

A breakdown by subject shows a “significant shift in language preferences”, with entries for French at Higher level having plummeted by 50 per cent in a decade, from 4,572 in 2015 to 2,300 last year.

The number of pupils taking Higher German has also halved from 1,114 to 550 between those years, although they have increased in the past two years.

In the same period, the number of entries to Higher Spanish has increased by a quarter from 2,413 to 3,035, overtaking French in 2023.

The numbers for Gaelic and Urdu at Higher have remained relatively stable in the past six years, while there has been a 43 per cent drop in Latin entries, but a two-thirds increase in Mandarin, and an increase for Cantonese from ten to 35.

At Advanced Higher, the number of Spanish entries overtook French for the first time last year, when there were 415 and 380 respectively. The number sitting French at this level has fallen by 43 per cent in a decade, while for Spanish it has increased by 27 per cent.

Since 2019, Mandarin entries have almost doubled, from 55 to 100, and for Italian they are up from 25 to 45.

The British Council report, carried out by experts at Queen’s University Belfast, looked at entries for pupils studying National 2 to 5 qualifications. The data also shows Spanish overtook French for the first time last year, when there were 9,760 entries and 9,315 respectively.

Similar to other levels, there was a 40 per cent fall for French since 2015, and a decline of 27 per cent for German, while Spanish entries were up by 60 per cent in the same period.

Since 2019, there was a 91 per cent increase for Mandarin, a 64 per cent rise for Italian, and a 27 per cent uplift for Gaelic language.

One school said: “There is a perception that languages are too difficult and also that STEM subjects are more useful and important.”

The study also surveyed primary schools and secondaries across Scotland to gather information about their language teaching. In the 2024/25 school year, 98 per cent of responding primary schools said their school had provided language teaching as part of the curriculum.

French was by far the most taught language, being part and parcel of the school day in 83 per cent of schools with language teaching. Spanish was taught to older primary pupils in more than a third of schools.

In high schools, French remained the most taught language in S1 and S2, with lessons being given to learners in more than 70 per cent of schools. Spanish is the second most taught language.

However, by S3 the study found there was a significant drop in the number of schools reporting that all their learners were studying a language as part of the school day, with only 12 per cent of schools reporting all learners study French. The same trend was found in the proportion studying more than one language.

Of the responding schools, more than half said all S1 and S2 pupils studied more than one language, but this proportion drops to 3 per cent by S3, and zero in S4. The survey also found two-thirds of schools reported they run multi-level classes at S4.

The report said: “The high number of schools reporting that multi-level classes are run is evidence of a key challenge facing language teachers in Scotland who are expected to cover a range of levels in a classroom of learners with different levels of ability.”

In just more than 40 per cent of responding local authority secondary schools, the recruitment of qualified languages teachers was said to be an issue.

Teachers reported other specific pressures in S4, with more than half of responding local authority schools saying that timetabling prevents some learners from taking a language, and a similar proportion saying classes will not run if numbers are too low.

In independent schools, most of the 16 that took part in the survey reported engaging with cultural institutes, employing language assistants, participating in exchange programmes, and having one or more international partner schools.

Peter Brown, director of the British Council Scotland, said: “Strong language skills and international experiences are vital for Scotland’s future as young people face an increasingly complex global landscape.

“While it’s encouraging to see a slight increase in some language exam entries over the last year, I’d like to see this continuing, and that international opportunities become more widely available, giving more young people the chance to transform their own lives through language learning”.

Dr Ian Collen, one of the report’s authors from Queen’s University Belfast, said: “While it’s hugely positive to see these green shoots with widespread implementation at primary level, the significant changes in qualification entries at senior level raise important questions about progression through secondary education and thus into further and higher education.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government has invested over £50 million since 2013 in our ambitious 1+2 Languages policy, which has helped to support learning in a wide range of languages through the Curriculum for Excellence, the, particularly in primary schools.

“In the senior phase, we have seen an increase in entries in Spanish and in Chinese languages and Scotland has a higher proportion of French, German and Spanish entries at Higher level compared to the equivalent level elsewhere in the UK.

“The Scottish Government’s teaching bursary scheme also provides £20,000 to career changers wishing to undertake a one year PGDE in a range of subjects, including modern languages. This comes in addition to the £186.5 million that the Scottish Government is providing local authorities to restore overall teacher numbers across the country to 2023 levels.”