There has been a dramatic drop in the number of students studying French at GCSE, with nearly 50 per cent less entries over the last ten years. Consequently, French has fallen from the list of the top ten most popular GCSE subjects for the first time.

Now, less than a quarter of pupils take French in the last two years of secondary school, according to figures released from examination boards. The figures also show German entries fell by 4.5 per cent. There is some good news with the number of pupils taking a GCSE in Spanish rising by one per cent, according to The Telegraph.

The slump has been blamed on the decision to make languages optional in 2004 and the belief that languages are too demanding.

"I find it extraordinary that French, which has for so long been core to the secondary curriculum should now have dropped out of the top 10 GCSEs taken by young people" said Christine Blower, general secretary of the National union of Teachers. "I urge the Government to come up with a coherent policy for ensuring that all young people acquire at least one modern foreign language."

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