Research

SCILT is committed to supporting research into languages education at local, national and international level.

Statistics on languages in Scotland

The second annual Language Trends Scotland report surveyed nearly 300 schools across 29 of Scotland's 32 local authorities to provide an independent picture of modern language provision from primary through secondary education.

Key findings from the 2025-26 report reveal a mixed picture. There are strong foundations to build on: 99 per cent of primary schools are now teaching languages, and the proportion of S1 learners studying more than one language has jumped from 52 to 63 per cent. Higher entries in French, German and Spanish have risen for the second consecutive year. Yet structural barriers are increasing and 59 per cent of responding local authority secondary schools do not run classes if numbers are too low (up from 52 per cent last year), and this affects schools in the most deprived areas most.

The report also highlights Scotland's multilingual classrooms, with teachers reporting over 100 different home and heritage languages spoken in responding secondary schools, and heritage language exam provision increasing from 29 to 36 per cent.

For the first time, the report also explores the use of AI in language teaching.

With insights from teachers on the ground, this research tracks how language provision is developing across Scotland and identifies where action is needed to ensure all young people have access to language learning.

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Studying SHAPE: 2022 is the first in an annual series of reports from The British Academy providing a snapshot of the number of students undertaking the most common secondary and further education qualifications in the UK, in humanities and social science subjects.

Key findings – Languages (Scotland)

French

  • French has seen the largest decline in entries of all SHAPE subjects at National 5 since 2016, down 29% overall. Entries decreased by 7% between 2021 and 2022. French National 5s, as a share of overall entries, have decreased by 1.01 percentage points since 2016 – representing 2.14% of all National 5 entries in 2022
  • Numbers at Highers have seen a 45% decrease since 2016, and a decrease of 21% between 2021 and 2022. French Highers, as a share of overall entries, have decreased by 0.99 percentage points since 2016 – representing 1.33% of all Higher entries in 2022.
  • Entries at Advanced Higher level have decreased by 27% since 2016, and by 14% between 2021 and 2022. French Advanced Highers, as a share of overall entries, have decreased by 1.12 percentage points since 2016 – representing 1.81% of all Advanced Higher entries in 2022.

German

  • German entries at National 5 level have decreased 26% since 2016. However, more recently, entries increased slightly by 5% between 2021 and 2022. German National 5s, as a share of overall entries, have decreased by 0.20 percentage points since 2016 – representing 0.48% of all National 5 entries in 2022.
  • Numbers at Higher level have decreased by 50% since 2016 and by 29% between 2021 and 2022. German Highers, as a share of overall entries, have decreased by 0.25 percentage points since 2016 – representing 0.27% of all Higher entries in 2022.
  • The picture is similar at Advanced Higher level, with entries decreasing 25% since 2016 and by 23% between 2021 and 2022. German Advanced Highers, as a share of overall entries, have decreased by 0.22 percentage points since 2016 – representing 0.39% of all Advanced Higher entries in 2022.

Spanish

  • National 5 numbers increased by 31% since 2016. Moreover, entries increased by 6% between 2021 and 2022 and Spanish remains the second biggest language at National 5. Spanish National 5s, as a share of overall entries, have increased by 0.36 percentage points since 2016 – representing 1.86% of all National 5 entries in 2022.
  • Numbers at Higher level have decreased by 5% since 2016. More recently, entries have decreased by 18% between 2021 and 2022. Spanish Highers, as a share of overall entries, have remained relatively stable, declining by just 0.01 percentage points since 2016 – representing 1.31% of all Higher entries in 2022.
  • At Advanced Higher level entries have decreased by 2% since 2016 and by 2% between 2021 and 2022. Spanish Advanced Highers, as a share of overall entries, have decreased by 0.35 percentage points since 2016 – representing 1.67% of all Advanced Higher entries in 2022.

Italian

  • Entry numbers for Italian at National 5 level have decreased by 22% since 2016. Between 2021 and 2022, however, Italian entries saw the largest increase of any SHAPE subject at this level, increasing by 128%. The change in numbers is small here though, and Italian National 5s, as a share of overall entries, have increased by 0.03 percentage points since 2016 – representing just 0.08% of all National 5 entries in 2022.
  • Entries at Higher level have decreased by 22% since 2016, and by 6% between 2021 and 2022. Italian Highers, as a share of overall entries, have decreased by 0.02 percentage points since 2016 – representing 0.09% of all Higher entries in 2022.
  • Italian is one of the smallest subjects at Advanced Higher, with just 35 entries in 2022. Despite some fluctuations, entries have increased 59% since 2016. Between 2021 and 2022, entries increased by 6%. Italian Advanced Highers, as a share of overall entries, have decreased by 0.03 percentage points since 2016 – representing 0.12% of all Advanced Higher entries in 2022.

Other languages

  • Entries for Chinese Languages have seen the strongest growth of any SHAPE subject at National 5 level since 2016, increasing by 160%. Entries increased by 4% between 2021 and 2022. Chinese Languages National 5s, as a share of overall entries, have increased by 0.05 percentage points since 2016 – representing 0.08% of all National 5 entries in 2022.
  • Strong growth has also been seen at Highers, where numbers for Chinese Languages have increased 98% since 2016, and by 29% between 2021 and 2022. Chinese Languages Highers, as a share of overall entries, have increased by 0.06 percentage points since 2016 – representing 0.12% of all Higher entries in 2022.
  • Entries for Chinese Languages at Advanced Highers have increased by 134% since 2016, and increased by 27% between 2021 and 2022. Chinese Languages Advanced Highers, as a share of overall entries, have increased by 0.13 percentage points since 2016 – representing 0.27% of all Advanced Higher entries in 2022.
  • Separate subject entry data for Urdu is available for Scottish qualifications at National 5 and Higher level only. Numbers for Urdu at National 5 are small but entries have grown 13% since 2016. Entries increased by 4% between 2021 and 2022. Urdu National 5s, as a share of overall entries, have seen no percentage point change since 2016 – representing 0.02% of all National 5 entries.
  • By contrast, numbers for Urdu at Higher level have decreased by 2% since 2016, and between 2021 and 2022 they decreased by 5%. Urdu Highers, as a share of overall entries, have also seen no percentage point change since 2016 – representing 0.05% of all Higher entries in 2022.

Analysis for other languages in Scotland, including Gaelic and ESOL, is available in the Studying SHAPE: 2022 report (PDF).

The key finding of the survey is that nearly all primary and secondary schools now deliver language learning from P1 through to the end of the BGE. This lies in sharp contrast to the provision of languages prior to the 2013 introduction of the 1+2 policy, particularly in primary schools, and confirms the progress towards this becoming the norm in schools.

In terms of individual languages, French and Spanish continue to be the most widely taught L2 and L3 respectively in both the primary and secondary sectors. A marked increase in the teaching of BSL and Scots as an L3 in primary schools suggest an increasing appetite for less traditionally taught languages.

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In 2014, the University Council for Modern Languages Scotland (UCMLS) and SCILT began a three-year collaboration to promote languages and language learning. Four initiatives were set up: 

  • Business Brunches: an event for pupils aged 14-15 where they meet and hear from employers who value language skills
  • Language Linking Global Thinking: an initiative that links students about to go abroad as part of their studies, with a class in the upper primary or lower secondary school
  • Mother Tongue Other Tongue: a multilingual poetry competition
  • Word Wizard: a spelling competition for learners in the lower secondary school in French, Spanish, German, Gaelic (Learners) and Mandarin. 

This evaluation reports on the impact of these initiatives on learner attitudes and uptake in the upper secondary phase after a three-year collaboration from 2014- 15 up to 2016-17.

Read Working together for languages: Evaluation of four collaborative language promotional initiatives (2019)

  • Girls were more likely than boys to report choosing or intending to study a language other than English.
  • Young people from rural areas were significantly more likely than those from urban areas to report that they had chosen or intended to study a language subject.
  • The percentage of young people reporting that they had chosen or were intending to study a language decreased between S1 and S5. However, this number increases again in S6.
  • The most common reason for choosing to study a language was because the young person enjoyed it.

Highlights from the Young People in Scotland Survey, carried out by Ipsos MORI and published in March 2018. Find out more in the extract of these findings.

  • Most people in Scotland (89%) think that learning a language other than English in school from the age of five is important. This was regardless of people’s age, educational qualifications, or socio-economic status.
  • The most common languages that people in Scotland think are appropriate for children in their area to learn are Western European languages.

Highlights from the Scottish Social Attitudes survey, carried out by Scotcen Social Research and published in February 2016. Find out more in the extract of these findings.

Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) is the national accreditation and awarding body in Scotland. For the most recent data on all qualifications and subjects, including data on entries and awards for qualifications in languages, please refer to the following on the SQA website:

For information on how many Secondary specialist language teachers there are in Scotland, please refer to the data from the Summary Statistics for Schools in Scotland No 8 (Scottish Government, December 2017):

Data from the Pupil census supplementary statistics 2024 (Scottish Government, March 2025) indicate the top 5 home languages in 2022, other than English, were Polish, Urdu, Arabic, Scots and Pujabi. A total of 198 languages were spoken as the main home language by pupils in publicly funded schools in Scotland. 82,777 pupils were identified whose main home language was not English. The greatest number of these pupils attend schools in Glasgow.

The statistics published by the Registrar General for Scotland on the Scotland’s Census website, present details from the 2011 Census in Scotland on Ethnicity, Identity, Language and Religion, from national to local level.

Navigate to the Standard Outputs menu and select ‘Ethnicity, Identity, Language and Religion’ to access the following tables:

  • Gaelic language skills by sex by age 
  • English language skills by sex by age 
  • Language other than English used at home by sex by age

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