Northern Ireland pupils' language learning 'shortest in Europe'

BBC News

3 days ago

A review of Northern Ireland's school curriculum has said the time pupils spend learning languages is "the shortest in Europe".The review was carried out by independent expert Lucy Crehan for the Department of Education (DE).Meanwhile, Spanish has become the most widely taught language in schools in Northern Ireland, overtaking French for the first time.That is according to the British Council's Language Trends 2025 study.
It also said Irish language learning was increasing, with about four in 10 post-primary schools teaching Irish to pupils.The British Council ask every school in Northern Ireland about their language teaching and learning for their Language Trends report.It carries out the research every two years.For the 2025 survey, only 136 out of 781 primary schools responded, but there was a much higher response from post-primary schools.More than half of Northern Ireland's 190 post-primary schools provided the report's authors with information about language teaching in their school.
How are languages taught in NI primary schools?
Learning a second language is not compulsory for primary school children in Northern Ireland.A scheme to teach primary pupils additional languages was axed by the Department of Education (DE) in 2015 due to financial cuts.Some primary schools have linked up with other schools in their area to offer languages to pupils.At present, often have to source and fund language teaching themselves.A scheme to teach Irish to pupils in English-medium schools run by Gael Linn is at risk due to funding cuts.However, the independent review of the curriculum commissioned by the Department of Education has recommended that additional languages should be taught to older primary school pupils.It said the time pupils spent learning languages in Northern Ireland was "the shortest in Europe"."The teaching of other languages should be statutory during Key Stage 2," the review said, "with a focus on this period being an apprenticeship in language learning rather than including a requirement to teach a particular language."
Spanish 'most popular' among NI pupils
The researchers also asked more than 1,000 Year 9 pupils in post-primary schools about their attitudes to learning languages.While the majority of pupils said they liked studying languages, some said the classes were "boring".As it is not compulsory for pupils to learn a language after Year 10, there has been a steady fall since 2002 in the number of students taking languages to GCSE level.Spanish has, however, gone against that trend with 3,754 pupils studying Spanish for GCSE in 2024 compared to 2,638 in 2002.The number of pupils taking GCSE Irish also rose from 1,620 in 2023 to 1,861 in 2024.French, German, Irish and Spanish are the four languages taught most in schools in Northern Ireland.Some schools also offer languages like Arabic, Mandarin, Polish, Portuguese and sign language.
Cliftonville Integrated Primary School in north Belfast offers classes in Mandarin to pupils.The principal, William Fletcher, told BBC News NI they also teach older pupils French."I think it is important that they're exposed to different languages," he said."We, as adults, have been able to get by but children, I think, in a globalised world are going to have to know different languages and I think it's really, really important."Mr Fletcher said that within the school 15 different languages are spoken by pupils, and that learning a language could help children in other subjects."With younger children particularly they'll pick things up very, very quickly," he said."You can see that coming through in other areas."
'Still barriers to uptake'
Dr Ian Collen, from Queen's University Belfast (QUB), was one of those who carried out the Language Trends research.He welcomed that the review of the curriculum recommended that languages other than English become statutory in primary schools."We have known anecdotally for the past few years that some schools have phased out French in favour of Spanish," he said."Our research provides robust quantitative evidence that Spanish has indeed overtaken French in the 11-14 age range for the first time."Spanish may be perceived to be easier for beginner leaners, but it is important that we maintain a balance of diversity of languages on the school curriculum."The director of the British Council in Northern Ireland, Jonathan Stewart, said the research "clearly highlights that there are still barriers to uptake which need to be addressed"."The continued rise of Spanish in our classrooms reflects wider global trends, but also points to a shift in learner interest and school provision – one that's happening alongside a marked decline in French," he said."While it's encouraging to see engagement growing in Spanish and Irish, the steady erosion of French and German raises concerns about narrowing choices for young people."