British Academy comments on GCSE results

The British Academy congratulates pupils on their 2016 GCSE results.

Commenting on the results, Professor Nigel Vincent FBA, language lead for the British Academy, said:

“It is deeply concerning to see the continued decline in overall GCSE entries for Modern Foreign Languages. This is particularly disappointing as take-up of all the other subjects included in the new EBacc, including Geography, History, Computing and Sciences, has increased.

Decline in numbers at GCSE is likely to have a further knock-on effect at A-Level and university, meaning a still smaller pool of potential future Modern Foreign Language teachers. It is therefore crucial that we do more to encourage the study of languages at all stages of education.”

The Academy has repeatedly shown that languages are essential to UK society and the economy, including through its recent briefing on languages, and by providing resources for the language community such as its Born Global project on languages and employability.