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Sixth formers missing out on French and Spanish

Sixth formers missing out on French and Spanish

Telegraph08-05-2025

Sixth formers are missing out on French and Spanish at A-level because there are not enough teachers, a poll has revealed.
The survey, by the education charity Teach First, found that nearly a quarter of schools in the poorest areas of Britain do not offer French A-level, while 17 per cent do not offer Spanish or music.
The charity said a shortage of trained teachers has locked pupils out of many opportunities.
Teacher vacancies in England have been at their highest level since records began, according to the National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER).
The findings followed union claims that the Government remains on track to miss its manifesto commitment to recruit 6,500 new teachers, funded by a VAT raid on private schools.
The poll also found almost a third of schools in deprived communities do not offer computer science A-level because of a lack of teachers trained in the subject.

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