What can be done to save Modern Language education in our schools and universities?
Eilidh Elizabeth Molly McGrath
My language education era is about to end – I have one last German exam to do, and then I’m done! Although I am proud of what I have achieved and I’m excited about starting my new adventure through law school, I’m also deeply concerned because the number of British foreign language students is decreasing extremely rapidly – so much so that instead of a German Day, a French Day, a Spanish Day and a Chinese Day, at the end of this month my uni is having a combined Language and Culture Day because all four departments are so small that it is not worth having separate days! This article will explore this crisis, present the benefits of learning a modern language, and offer suggestions for improving British foreign language learning for future generations.
The Modern Language Education Crisis Under the Microscope
Since 2008, the number of French and German teachers in Scottish schools has fallen by over a fifth! We have lost 44.2% of our French teachers, leaving a total of 597 still practising, but the most alarming statistic is the 63.3% drop in German teachers, taking the total down to a shocking 66 across the whole of Scotland (PA Media, 2025). Additionally, only 7 universities in Scotland (excluding The Open University) offer Modern Language courses, with only 3 of them offering German as a choice (What Uni, n, d), which means that right from the age of 12, hopeful language students are disadvantaged in comparison to young people with a different area of interest, such as art or science. But this is a chicken-and-egg question – are modern languages not being taught because they are not popular or are they not popular because there is simply not enough opportunity to learn them?
According to a study by the British Council in 2023, 48% of pupils enjoyed learning another language however more than a quarter of survey respondents were not planning to take a modern language past GCSE level. Additionally, a startling near 90% thought that learning a foreign language would not be useful for their posț-school careers with some even saying that it would not be useful at all (Standley, 2023). Despite this last year 99% of primary schools offered a foreign language as part of the curriculum. Although this is a very promising start, the problem lies with the older age group. If a secondary school does not receive enough pupils for a foreign language class one year then it usually axes the class the following year (British Council, 2025). This essentially puts the responsibility of the future of modern language education into the hands of 14-18-year-olds! In a recent chat with my tutor Lilian, I found out that the brain does not actually stop developing until the mid-30s (Gergley, 2026) so based on this fact it seems ludicrous to base the presentation of modern language classes, which can have so many benefits to the brain, on the reactions of individuals whose brains are 17-20 years off being fully developed!
That’s the situation for young people up to the age of 18, but what does the situation look like for people my age and above who are in higher education?
Reports show that enrollment for undergraduate modern foreign language degrees is at a 25-year low. Since 2014 17 British universities have lost their Modern Language degree courses but that is just the tip of the iceberg! The Modern Language crisis has brought total closure to 28 and thus leaving hopeful future linguists with a choice of just 10 universities to study in (HEPI, 2025). But how many of these endangered species of academic are there left in the uk? Since 2012 the number of full-time French students at UK universities has decreased from 9,700 to 3,700! Similarly the number of full-time German students has fallen from 3,900 to just 1,400 in the same period (Standley, 2025)! But why does no-one want to learn foreign language anymore?
There are ten main answers to this question. Firstly, Modern Language classes have a large number of different components such as a tsunami of new vocabulary, brand new grammatical concepts as well as listening and speaking elements, all of which can be overwhelming to some students and cause Modern Languages to be perceived as “difficult subjects”. Secondly Modern Languages tend to have stricter marking schemes than other subjects which often leads to discouraging lower marks than in other subjects and contributes to the perceived difficulty of the field. Another reason why the popularity of Modern Languages is dwindling is that because English is generally regarded as the lingua franca of the world, many students fail to see the immediate relevance of learning a foreign language because STEM subjects and vocational courses have more obvious career pathways. The patchy and inconsistent provision of Modern Language in state schools are results of reduced presence of German, French and Spanish on timetables, cuts in teaching time and also directly impact on attainment and motivation in these subjects and therefore the popularity. Moreover, sometimes, particularly in boys, language learning can be seen as uncool and students can move away from the field because none of their peers is doing it. Also traditional Modern Language classes in the UK have faced criticism for focusing too much on grammar and verb tables instead of meaningful communication which can cause students to disengage, specifically learners with lower attainment. There is also an association between Modern Foreign Language classes and private school education and higher income, which can cause learners from lower class to think that language learning is not for people like them. Also, if a child grows up in a wholly monolingual household, they can lack a good linguistic role model and feel culturally disconnected and unmotivated when it comes to language learning. Finally, there is a lack of continuity between primary and secondary schools with modern language provision which can mean that children can repeat a lot of learning when they transition to high school (Conti, 2025).
In summary, Modern Foreign Language education in this country is in crisis triggered by a shortage of staff, insufficient provision and declining popularity. It therefore seems appropriate for take a closer look at how language learning can enrich our lives.
Benefits of learning MFL
For me, language learning has changed my life! Now that I am fluent in German I have twice as many books, movies and podcasts to enjoy and twice as many words in my vocabulary. However during my language learning journey, I have met so many lovely people and now, for the first time in my life, i have a stable support network and at least two life-long friends who really feel like family! My journey has taken me to places in the world that I would have never seen otherwise…also when I am trying to read instruction manuals, I no longer have to spend ages finding the English section! Studies have shown that language learning has a lot of benefits to the life of the learner, which I will explain in this section of the article!
According to a study for Cambridge University, learning a new language changes the physical structure of the brain! Bilingual brains have been proven to have more neurons than the brain of a person who speaks one language causing the grey matter to be denser. As well as neurons, bilingual adults have more nerves connecting the different lobes of the brain which makes the brain more powerful! The same physical changes have been seen in the brains of people who have learned a foreign language later in life. This alternative brain structure has been proven to help protect older people from neurodegenerative conditions like Dementia. So essentially learning a foreign language is like a HIIT workout for your brain (Spence, 2022).
As well as the neurological advantages, language learning can also enhance your social and employability skills. Firstly communicating with someone in their first language shows respect and can lead to a deeper connection (I have seen this happen many times!) resulting in stronger friendships. Secondly thinking about a problem in an additional language allows you to think more objectively and with more emotional distance, resulting in better decision-making. Also language learning is one of the best ways to find out about other cultures and studies have shown that children who learn an additional language develop an affinity for the culture that is associated with the language (I’m perhaps the textbook example of this 😀), which ultimately leads to a higher level of cultural tolerance. When you go to a different country and know the language, you acquire a higher level of experience of the place compared to the average tourist and have more opportunities to immerse yourself in the food, art and culture and find secret nooks and crannies! Lastly an occupational hazard of learning a language is making a lot of mistakes in front of your peers, teachers and sometimes even native speakers! Over time, these public mistakes make you a more confident person! Language learning also teaches us to compare other cultures with our own in doing so you realise how diverse and colourful the world is and what similarities and differences lie between your own culture and other cultures. Finally, there is nothing quite like experiencing art in its original language (the English translation of Erich Fried’s poem “Was Es Ist” definitely doesn’t have the same beautiful rhythm as the original German!) and learning another language gives you more opportunities to do so! On the business and employability side of the story, multilingualism lies in the top 8 most attractive traits that employers look for. This is the same for every job title which makes polyglots naturally more employable than single-language speakers from the beginning! In the US 9 in 10 employers rely on multilingual employees so even with the advancement of AI, multilingualism is now more of an essential employability skill, rather than a nice quirk to have (ACTFL, 2026).
MFL have all these wonderful benefits, so how do we make sure that future generations get better access to and stay engaged with MFL education?
Recommendations for the future of MFL education in the UK
Even though I started this blog as very much a child who was fresh out of school, I like to hope that my little purple articles contribute to the advocacy of the inclusive teaching and learning of Modern Language in some small way. Therefore in this final section i will make suggestions on what can now be done to rescue British Modern language education from the edge of extinction! I am just a university student so I am not a qualified expert on education, however I am a young woman in the British education system who wants to make sure that her children and grandchildren also get to experience the joy of learning a foreign language!
Linguists visiting schools
People who have studied MFL at university should be invited to schools to give a talk on studying MFL and the Impact on their career it’s had. This will enable children to see how MFL still has much relevance in today’s AI-dominant, largely English-speaking world and potentially inspire some to pursue MFL further.
New campaign for MFL degrees
Universities and the government should launch a campaign promoting the study of MFL courses in further education. I have seen a similar campaign for teacher training so this shouldn’t be too difficult. As well as promoting pure MFL courses, the campaign should also promote mixed degrees (German and Law, French and business, Spanish and computing, etc) so that prospective students who already have a specific plan to study a non-MFL subject such as law can be persuaded to add a MFL into their studies.
Make MFL compulsory
Currently in Scotland, maths and English are compulsory until the age of 16 because they are considered “essential subjects”, I believe that being able to speak an additional language is also an essential skill because they open up more of the world to you. Therefore I propose that MFL should be added to this group. With this model, children would start learning either French, German or Spanish five times in a school week from the beginning of P1 to the end of P7, when they transition to high school, the child would be asked whether they would like to continue with their original language or change to another (for example, if Olivia and Harry attend a primary school that teaches French, Olivia may decide to continue with French in high school while Harry decides that German looks interesting so parks his French and decides to start beginners’ German in first year). They would continue with the selected language until the end of fourth year and then decide whether they wish to continue with it in fifth and six year (Olivia may have fallen in love with French so decide to continue with it in her senior phase, while Harry has a talent for science so decides to stop German and focus on maths, biology and physics so that he can study a scientific course at university). This model would mean that every child in the UK would leave school with all least a B1 (intermediate) proficiency in a MFL.
Incentives for new MFL teachers
MFL teachers should receive a specific bursary when they start their training and when they start practising, they should continue to receive a certain benefit on top of their salary. The reasoning behind this is that if a school has a German teacher, that single person is responsible for the German education of the whole school (not all schools have German teachers, so in extreme cases, they can be responsible for the whole region!) and this causes a larger workload compared to a geography or chemistry teacher who has colleagues! Not only would the benefit reimburse them for the extra work they have to do, but it would also potentially encourage people to become MFL teachers and begin to tackle the shortage.
Region-specific foreign language options
In different parts of the UK live different immigrant communities. Therefore, instead of just offering either French, Spanish or German across the whole UK, options should be tailored to the region. In Fife is a large number of Polish people so schools in Fife would offer French, Spanish, German and Polish while schools in Manchester, A place with a high Jewish population, would offer French, Spanish, Yiddish and Hebrew and London schools would offer French, Spanish, German, Arabic, Afrikaans and Hindi. This more tailored approach may hełp students recognise the relevance of learning a language because they may have friends and family members who are native speakers of one of the provided languages or even have one as a first language themselves! Not only would this promote the relevance of MFL education but it would also celebrate the diversity of British schools and the surrounding communities and make the next generation of Brits less xenophobic, racisti and “bigotted”.
If even just some of these measures were to be put in place, I believe that MFL education would recover from its current crisis state within a decade and enrich the lives of future generations.
In conclusion MFL education in the UK is in a dire situation and if nothing is done about it then the country is at risk of becoming a completely monolingual land! English is indeed the lingua franca of the world but I now wonder if that is because English-speaking countries have such great economies or simply because English-speaking people are so dreadful at learning foreign languages! As I turn my attention to legal studies, I fear that the world of MFL is about to lose one of its last enthusiastic students and everything could easily collapse. However on the flip side, legal knowledge may help me to advocate more effectively for MFL and create more change!
Eilidh Elizabeth Molly McGrath
Sources
ACTFL (2026) ‘The Benefits of Learning Languages’, ACTFL.Available online at: https://www.actfl.org/advocacy-and-public-education/the-benefits-of-learning-languages (Accessed on: 18 March 2026)
British Council (2025) ‘Language Trends Scotland: Research into the teaching and learning of modern languages’, British Council. Available online at: https://scotland.britishcouncil.org/language-trends-scotland (Accessed on: 15 March 2026)
Conti, G. (2025) ‘Why Do So Many UK Students Drop Modern Foreign Languages?’, THE LANGUAGE GYM, 21 May. Available online at: https://gianfrancoconti.com/2025/05/21/why-do-so-many-uk-students-drop-modern-foreign-languages/ (Accessed on: 17 March 2026)
Gergely, L. (2026) Email to Eilidh Elizabeth Molly McGrath, 9 March.
HEPI (2025) ‘New report shows a catastrophic decline in formal language learning’, Higher Education Policy Institute, 31 July. Available online at: https://www.hepi.ac.uk/2025/07/31/new-report-shows-decline-in-formal-language-learning/ (Accessed on: 15 March 2026)
PA Media (2025) ‘Number of modern language teachers down by more than a fifth, figures suggest’, STV News, 20 April. Available online at: https://news.stv.tv/scotland/number-of-mGodern-languages-teachers-down-by-more-than-a-fifth-figures-suggest (Accessed on: 14 March 2026)
Spence, C. (2022) ‘How learning a new language changes your brain’, CAMBRIDGE, 29 April. Available online at: https://www.cambridge.org/elt/blog/2022/04/29/learning-language-changes-your-brain/ (Accessed on: 18 March 2026)
Standley, N. (2023) ‘Pupils say languages not key to careers – Report’, BBC News, 4 December. Available online at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c889nyxmkpmo (Accessed on: 14 March 2026)
Standley, N. (2025) ‘University students facing course ‘cold spots’ as enrollments fall’, BBC News, 16 December. Available online at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cnv26103d1go (Accessed on: 15 March 2026)
What Uni (n, d) ‘Modern Languages degrees’, What Uni?. Available online at: https://www.whatuni.com/degree-courses/search?subject=modern-languages (Accessed on: 14 Màrch 2026)
The Non Verbal Linguist 