Scotland’s schools have excellent foundation for language learning, report says

Scotland has an “excellent foundation” to build on for school pupils learning foreign languages, a report has claimed.

The British Council Scotland said increases in the number of secondary students sitting Highers in Spanish, French and German in 2025 were “very positive”.

Meanwhile, 99% of primaries who took part in the research were teaching languages in the 2025-26 school year.

Overall, it said that “in comparison to the other UK nations, there is an excellent foundation on which to build” – adding that the “right funding” could help ensure that “the opportunities for the future are boundless”.

But while there was an increase in students sitting Highers in the most commonly-taught languages, the research found this growth was from a low base – with Higher entries in modern languages 16% below pre-pandemic levels, with 6,110 in 2025, compared to 7,255 in 2019.

Advanced Higher entries were down 25% over the same period, from 1,200 in 2019 to 895 in 2025.

Last year did see a “moderate increase” in youngsters studying French below Higher level, from 9,315 in 2024 to 9,620 in 2025, with a “substantial increase” recorded in Spanish, from 9,760 to 10,205.

However, the research, carried out by Queen’s University Belfast, found that at this level the numbers studying German had declined, from 2,305 in 2024 to 2,105 in 2025.

It also found that an increased proportion of the 114 secondary schools that took part in the research said “classes simply will not run if there are not enough learners” – with this the case in 59% of high schools this year, up from 52% in academic year 2024-25.

Schools in less deprived areas were “more likely to keep language classes running regardless of learner numbers”, the Language Trends Scotland report added.

Meanwhile, it said that less than a third of schools offer pupils German at National 5 level – with most of the schools that do so being in areas with “a more affluent socio-economic profile”.

In 2025-26 more schools were found to be using online learning for Higher or Advanced Higher language  classes – with the report noting fewer schools are “reporting that they deliver languages wholly in their school”, with 58% providing all teaching in school, down from 66% the previous year.

“Challenges and barriers remain that dissuade learners from studying a language,” the report said, adding that about a third of secondaries surveyed “reported that learners do not see the relevance of languages for their future career”.

Of the 169 primaries surveyed, the study found “just over 40% of responding schools recorded that their classroom teachers have no language qualifications of any kind”.

More than nine out of 10 primary schools (93%) said languages were “taught primarily by the classroom teacher” – although 13% said that they had a specialist language teacher in the school.

In primaries “above all, time and confidence were the most important barriers”, with the report saying schools mentioned teacher confidence as an issue 67 times, with the lack of time allocated to language teaching mentioned 53 times.

But the report said: “All teachers with whom we came into contact have a shared commitment and ambition to continually improve language learning.

“In comparison to the other UK nations, there is an excellent foundation on which to build; with the right funding and progression pathways, the opportunities for the future are boundless.”

Claire de Braekeleer, director of the British Council Scotland, said: “At a time of global uncertainty, language skills are not a luxury, they are an essential.

“Learning a language opens doors, builds bridges and fosters the kind of cultural understanding that our world urgently needs.

“This report shows we have strong foundations in Scotland to build on. At the British Council we are committed to working with education and public sector partners to address barriers, champion language learning and equip the next generation with the skills to connect, collaborate, and compete globally.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson welcomed the report and the “valuable insights it offers into modern language provision in schools”.

The spokesperson said: “While the delivery of language learning in schools is ultimately the responsibility of local authorities, the Scottish Government has invested over £50 million in support of our ambitious 1+2 languages policy since 2013.

“This is in addition to the £186.5 million provided to local authorities this year to protect and restore teacher numbers, and our teaching bursary scheme, which provides £15,000 to career changers undertaking a PGDE in a number of subjects, including modern languages.

“The 2025 SQA exam data shows that pass rates for languages at senior phase are consistently above the national average and entries at National 5 and Higher have improved over the past two years.”