Spanish overtakes French as most taught language in NI schools, report says

Spanish has overtaken French for the first time as the most widely taught language at Key Stage 3 in Northern Ireland schools, new research has found.

The Language Trends Northern Ireland 2025 report from the British Council also found growing linguistic diversity in schools, with nearly 30 different languages spoken at home by pupils in post-primary education.

The report also found a renewed growth and interest in the Irish language with an increase in GCSE entries.

The research is based on responses from more than 55% of post-primary schools in the region, 17.4% of primary schools, and more than 1,000 Year 9 pupils who took part in the surveys.

It was carried out by the Centre for Language Education Research (CLER) at Queen’s University Belfast for the British Council Northern Ireland, a cultural relations organisation.

The report said there are now more than 21,350 newcomer pupils (learners whose home language is neither English nor Irish) enrolled in Northern Ireland schools, accounting for 6% of the school population in 2024-25.

It says that more schools are offering support to pupils to take exams in their home languages, with 70.5% of the post-primary schools surveyed offering pupils the opportunity to sit exams in their home or community languages, either within the school or externally.

The research also highlights the growing linguistic diversity in schools, with nearly 30 different languages spoken at home by pupils in post-primary education. These include Arabic, Lithuanian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Polish, Portuguese and Mandarin.

The report also says that Spanish has overtaken French for the first time as the most popular language at Key Stage 3 (first three years of secondary school), with 84.8% of schools now teaching Spanish, compared with 81% for French, down from 90% in 2023.

Irish is also seeing growth at Key Stage 3, taught in 41.9% of schools, up from 35% in 2023.

At GCSE level, Spanish remains the most popular language, having held the top spot since overtaking French in 2021, the report says.

French continues to decline, with 11.4% of schools offering post-16 courses reporting that they have discontinued the subject.

German GCSE entries have dropped by more than half since 2002 – from 1,390 to 638 in 2024.

At A-level, Spanish remains the most popular language, followed by Irish and then French.

The research also looked at AI technology in classrooms. It found that although some post-primary schools in Northern Ireland are using AI, uptake remains limited. Just 7.6% use AI technology regularly and more than two-fifths (41.9%) use it occasionally in a few lessons each month.

However, nearly half (49.5%) do not use AI at all in language teaching.

Meanwhile, in primary schools the majority (81.3%) of teachers have never used AI technology, the research said.

The research was carried out by Dr Ian Collen and Dr Jayne Duff at Queen’s.

Dr Collen said: “Artificial Intelligence is not just a buzzword; it’s a transformative force that is shaping industries, societies, and the way we learn languages.

“Our research suggests that AI is underdeveloped in local classrooms.”

Jonathan Stewart, director of the British Council Northern Ireland, said: “We are encouraged by the positive trends revealed in this report – especially the growth in language learning at primary level and the growing number of schools offering exams in home, heritage and community languages.”