Entries in GCSE French and German are down while Mandarin, Arabic and Polish are up

French, German and Spanish - which has bucked the trend in recent years - all saw drops in numbers, according to national figures published by the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ).

However, while students are turning away from these commonly taught languages, there is evidence that others, such as Mandarin, are becoming increasingly popular.

The British Council said that the overall decline in take-up was “disappointing”, adding that the drop in Spanish was “particularly worrying”.

The latest figures, for England, Wales and Northern Ireland show that there were 157,699 entries for French GCSE entries this year, down 6.2 per cent on last year and down around 11 per cent on 2013. For German, there were 54,037 entries this year, down 9.8 per cent on 2014 and down around 14 per cent on the year before, while there were 90,782 Spanish GCSE entries this summer, down 2.4 per cent on last year and down 0.6 per cent on 2013.

Exam bosses said that the figures showed that Spanish was the only language to hold on to increases in take-up seen in 2013.

Andrew Halls, chief executive of the AQA board, said that a move to encourage language take-up had led to a surge in interest in 2013. “What we then saw last year at modern foreign language GCSE was a decline,” he said.

“And actually in 2015 we’re showing you a further decline.

The point that I would bring to your attention is that only really Spanish has been able to hold on to that surge in entries in 2013. The others have fallen back, largely to the 2012 levels.” he statistics also show that there were 3,710 entries for GCSE Chinese this year, up around 19 per cent.

Other languages to see a rise in entries include Portuguese (up around nine per cent), Polish (up around 12 per cent) and Arabic (up around four per cent).

Vicky Gough, schools adviser at the British Council, said: “It’s disappointing to see this year’s overall decline in the number of language GCSEs with traditional languages French and German falling by 6.2 per cent and 9.8 per cent respectively.

“While it is good to see that the number of Spanish entries on the whole has more than doubled in the past two decades, the general rise in Spanish that we have witnessed in recent years now appears to have stalled with entries down 2.4 per cent on last year.

“This is particularly worrying given that Spanish has been recognised as the language the UK needs the most.

“The main silver lining today is that we have seen some increases in the uptake of Mandarin Chinese, Portuguese and Arabic - three languages vital for the UK’s future - but sadly this isn’t enough to compensate for the downturn in language learning across the board.

“The reality is that as this general decline continues, the UK risks falling behind on the world stage. Employers are crying out for more language skills, we all need to realise that learning a language isn’t just a rewarding way to connect with another culture but will boost job prospects too.

“It is vital that we encourage far more of our young people to develop their language skills in order to effectively connect, live and work with their counterparts around the globe and to pass on these valuable skills by becoming the language teachers of the future.”