ALMOST a million schoolchildren do not speak English as their first language, official figures show, with the numbers soaring over the past five years.
Around 150,000 more youngsters than in 2007 do not have English as their mother tongue, according to Department for Education (DfE) statistics.
Overall, the data shows that 957,490 pupils in primary, secondary and special schools, as well as pupil referral units (PRU) have a first language that is known or believed to be other than English.
In 2007, five years ago, this figure was just under 800,000. This does not include PRUs.
The figures are higher in primaries than in secondaries, with around one in six (16.8%) of primary pupils speaking another language at home – 547,030 in total.
In secondary schools, that figure is around one in eight.
