Chinese overtakes German after big push by private schools

CHINESE has overtaken German to become the third most popular language at A-level.

A record 3,334 students took A-level Chinese this year, an increase of 8.6 per cent on last year, while German was down 16.5 per cent at 3,058.

Derek Richardson, of Pearson, the exam board, said Chinese had “bucked the trend” of the fall in popularity of modern languages.

“We are seeing significant decreases for the main modern languages: French, German and Spanish,” he said. “But what we are also seeing is an increase in entries across some of the other languages that people study.

“What this means is Chinese… is now more popular than German. So maybe young people are beginning to think about what languages will be useful to them in the future.”

French remains the most popular modern language A-level, followed by Spanish. But both fell since last year, by 8 per cent and 4 per cent respectively. They were both less popular than PE, highlighting the decline in pupils taking up modern languages.

Barnaby Lenon, the chairman of the Independent Schools Council (ISC), said that while pupils used to be told that German would help their career, this is no longer the case. “In the Sixties, Seventies and even Eighties, Germany was the economic powerhouse of Europe,” he told The Daily Telegraph.

“Pupils were encouraged to study German because of the importance of the German economy. Although it is still strong, that argument has faded, and China has emerged as the fastestgrowing economy in the world.” Suzanne O’farrell, of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: “We’re seeing German just moving into extinction really.”

Mr Lenon, a former headmaster at Harrow School, said the rise in Chinese A-levels was partly driven by private schools, many of which have invested in the subject in recent years. He said that because of the growing numbers of Chinese students at UK independent schools, many pupils taking A-levels in Chinese would be native speakers.

Mark Herbert, director of schools and skills at the British Council, said he welcomed the rise in Chinese entries.

He added that it “proves young people can be enthused to study languages. Our research shows Mandarin will be one of the most important languages for the UK’S future prosperity.”