To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what percentage of state primary schools in England offer teaching in a modern foreign language other than French. (155252)

There are no national data available on the total number of primary schools offering modern foreign languages. However, in the autumn term of 2006, the National Foundation for Educational Research carried out research on the Department’s behalf, based on a nationally representative sample of 8,000 primary schools in England. The response rate was 48 per cent. The results showed that 81 per cent. of schools were providing primary languages within class time. As it was recognised that schools already delivering primary languages might be more likely to respond, data were collected from all schools within a representative sub-sample of 500 schools from the original 8,000 primary schools. The results showed that 70 per cent. of schools in this sub-sample were providing primary languages within class time.

Figures for which languages were provided are available only for the larger sample. Of the 3,336 schools in the survey that were teaching primary languages in class time, 91 per cent. of these schools offered French. Other languages were offered by the following proportions of schools in this sample. Percentages do not add up to 100 per cent. as some schools offer two or more languages: