Primary school children raising their hands in a classroom

Post-primary and primary schools: Language Trends Northern Ireland 2023

The Language Trends Northern Ireland surveys schools anonymously on their languages provision and has run in England since 2003 and in Wales since 2015. This is the third time the research has been conducted in Northern Ireland, following on from our inaugural report in 2019.

We have recently gathered responses from Principals and Heads of Modern Languages in every Primary and Post-Primary school in Northern Ireland. We also gathered pupil voice, by speaking to Year 9 pupils via a survey. These results will also form part of the final report. This research was carried out by Ian Collen, Queen's University Belfast on behalf of British Council Northern Ireland.

The survey is now closed and the report findings for the 2023 report will be presented at a launch event in June 2023.

If you have any queries please do contact michael.grimason@britishcouncil.org

DOWNLOAD THE 2021 REPORT 

WATCH OUR 2021 LANGUAGE TRENDS NORTHERN IRELAND LAUNCH EVENT:

About Language Trends

Language Trends Northern Ireland surveys schools anonymously on their languages provision and has run in England since 2003 and in Wales since 2015. This is the second time the research has been conducted in Northern Ireland, following on from our inaugural report in 2019.

Language Trends Northern Ireland 2021

Headline statistics from the 2021 report include:

  • 54 per cent of Year 9 pupils surveyed found language learning online harder during lockdown than their other subjects
  • Spanish is now the most popular language at A-level and if current trends continue will soon overtake French for the top spot at GCSE
  • It is likely that Irish will replace French in the next few years as the second most popular language at A-level
  • Language teaching in primary schools surveyed has all but collapsed due to Covid-19 
  • Most pupils do not see languages being part of their future career and just 44 per cent of the 1,528 pupils who chose to respond are planning to do a language for GCSE
  • Grammar schools continue to devote much more time to compulsory language learning than secondary schools

 Read the report's key findings & DOWNLOAD BELOW.

Language Trends Northern Ireland 2019

Our first-ever Language Trends Northern Ireland report found that the number of pupils in Northern Ireland learning languages continues to fall.

Headline statistics from the report included:

  • From 2010-2018 the number of pupils learning languages at GCSE level declined by 19%: with significant falls in French (41%) and German (18%), while Spanish rose by 16%
  • Teachers report difficulty and grading of exams at GCSE level a big reason for the decline 
  •  55% of primary schools surveyed provide some form of language teaching
  •  Many teachers would like to see the return of the Primary Modern Language Programme

 Read the report's key findings & DOWNLOAD BELOW.

See also

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