Brightest students shun languages

Jul 1 2009 Liverpool Daily Post

THE numbers of bright pupils taking a foreign language GCSE has hit an all-time low, new research has suggested.

A study by the Cambridge Assessment exam board found there has been a rapid decline since the Government made modern foreign languages optional after the age of 14.

Around 75% of the brightest pupils took a language GCSE in 2008, this figure was 80% in 2000, and 94% in 1984.

Carmen L Vidal Rodeiro, a senior research officer at Cambridge Assessment, said: “Such a big drop in the uptake of languages by high attainers was a surprise but not totally unforeseen.

“If students are not exposed to and have no prior knowledge of languages at Key Stage 3, how can we expect them to make an informed choice at GCSE?”