Diploma messages hit home in schools
Release date: 21 January 2010
The results of the latest Language Trends survey by CILT, the National Centre for Languages show that the number of students choosing to take a language at 14 is still in decline - but schools have an appetite for initiatives to reverse the trend, including the Diploma in Languages and International Communication.
The findings, based on a survey sent to 2000 schools in England, revealed that the proportion of schools where more than 50 per cent of pupils study a language in year 10 has dropped from 45% in 2008-9 to 40% in the current school year. French, Spanish and German are still the most commonly taught languages and the number of schools offering Spanish has overtaken German for the first time in state schools.
Schools are taking part in a wide range of new initiatives to improve take up - such as CILT's Business Language Champions programme - and these are already starting to show an impact on pupils' attitudes. Even a year and a half away from its roll-out across England, nearly two-thirds (64%) of maintained schools are aware of the Diploma in Languages and International Communication - with many considering offering it as an alternative to GCSEs and A Levels.
