Overview

• Spanish GCSE entries rose by 1.6% to 131,985 this summer, edging past French as the most popular foreign language in provisional Ofqual data.
• French GCSE entries fell by 1.9% to 128,155 and German entries dropped by 7.6% to 32,430, continuing a longer-term decline in these languages.
• At A-level, Spanish entries increased by 1.4% while French and German fell by 8.3% and 6.8% respectively, according to the regulator’s figures.
• Education leaders warn that teacher recruitment shortfalls have reduced course availability in modern foreign languages and STEM subjects.
• Overall provisional entries fell by 0.6% to 5.78 million for GCSEs and by 0.4% to 821,875 for A-levels, fueling debate over the EBacc’s impact on student choice.