Pupils say 'non' to languages because it's too hard to get an A*

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The brightest schoolchildren are turning away from French and German because they fear it will be virtually impossible to score an A* in GCSE or A-level, a group of independent and state school teachers said.

Teachers from more than 100 schools will today send a letter to exam boards and Ofqual demanding an explanation of how tests are marked.

They said students are more likely to get an A* in "hard" subjects such as maths, physics and chemistry than in language exams.

Dr Helen Wright, head of St Mary's School in Calne, Wiltshire, who is representing the group, said: "This is absolutely not about dumbing down standards. It is about making sure there is a level playing field.

"Getting an A* in each subject should be equal. We want people to enjoy languages and we want to make it possible for people to reach the highest levels in a language.

But fewer people are studying them because of the message that it is more difficult to get an A*. We risk sidelining modern foreign languages in the same way as classical languages have been."

The teachers argue that students taking "difficult" subjects such as languages, maths and science, are often high achievers, so score a high proportion of A grades. But language students are much less likely to be given the top grade of A*, they said.

Only 7.7 per cent of French A-level students were given an A* last year while 32 per cent were given an A.

But in maths the spread between grades was more equal, with 27 per cent scoring an A, and 18 per cent given an A*. In physics 23 per cent of students scored an A, and 10 per cent an A*.

The teachers said the grading of oral exams was far too unpredictable, with examiners marking down top performers because their speech sounds too rehearsed.

Dr Wright said: "We have to prove that it is not impossible to do well in languages."

The open letter is signed by representatives from groups including the Independent Schools' Modern Languages Association and the London Branch of the Association for Language Learning, which represent both private and state schools.