Languages lose out in schools

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CILT, the national centre for languages, said one in 10 schools surveyed said less than 10 per cent of their GCSE year groups took language options.

But CILT hoped the popularity of languages such as Spanish and Mandarin will fuel a turnaround.

More schools now offer courses in Spanish than German.

There is a growing gulf between private schools, where all pupils normally study a language at GCSE, and the state system, where French and German are being widely abandoned.

Over half of England's secondary schools now teach languages to less than 50% of their GCSE pupils.

The researchers uncovered 11 secondaries where no pupils at all were studying languages at GCSE.

Isabella Moore, chief executive of Cilt, said: "Languages have a key role to play in 14 to 19 education, when pupils are starting to become independent in exploring the world and think about their careers.

"It is a matter of real concern that so few schools have set targets to increase participation rates, particularly in schools putting forward only a handful of candidates for GCSE."

Ministers want schools to set targets for between 50% and 90% of their pupils to be studying a language after the age of 14.