Spanish has become the most popular foreign language for GCSE students after overtaking French for the first time.
The popularity of Spain as a holiday destination, as well as its standing as a “global language” may have contributed to the GCSE’s success, it was suggested.
But while the increase in Spanish entries has been seen as a positive step, there are concerns about the impact of declines in entries for other foreign languages, such as French and German.
Joint Council for Qualifications”>
Entries for GCSE Spanish were up 2.6% this year – from 133,395 in 2024 to 136,871 in 2025, figures published by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) – which cover England, Wales and Northern Ireland – show.
Meanwhile, entries for French dropped to 132,808 – down 1.4% from 134,651 last year.
German continued to see a fall in entries – down 7.0% this year compared with 2024 (from 35,913 to 33,391 entries).
Vicky Gough, British Council schools adviser, said the growing popularity of Spanish shows “real appetite for language learning”.
She said: “We need the success of Spanish reflected across all languages through exchanges, cultural programmes and real-world connections that demonstrate why languages matter.
“Our research also reveals a significant socioeconomic gap: pupils in the top fifth of the most advantaged state schools in England are around 32% more likely to take a language GCSE than their peers elsewhere, meaning many young people from less privileged backgrounds miss out on opportunities their peers benefit from.
“At a time of increasing global tension, helping young people connect across borders, build friendships and foster trust has never been more important.
“We must ensure access to language learning for all, it remains a powerful gateway to opportunity and a more connected future.”
Jill Duffy, chief executive of the OCR exam board and chairwoman of the JCQ board, said: “Spanish is a massive global language, lots of people around the world speak it and also, as we know, Spain is a popular holiday destination for Brits, so that might have contributed to Spanish overtaking French this year.”
Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said falls in French and German are a “source of concern”.
He said: “The rising popularity of Spanish is great to see, but we cannot escape the fact that over the past 20 years or so there has been a massive decline in language take-up overall.
“It is imperative that we find ways of promoting a love of languages or we will become an increasingly monolingual society with consequent implications for our ability to trade and travel abroad.”
Sir Ian Bauckham, chief of England’s exam regulator, Ofqual, said the numbers taking German are now “really quite small.”
He told PA: “I think it’s important that students continue to have the opportunities for speaking languages and learning languages, not only because of the intrinsic enjoyment that the process of learning a language and being able to speak it can bring, but also because it’s important that young people leave school with the ability to communicate with speakers of other languages in other countries.”
