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Languages: Primary Education

Volume 470: debated on Tuesday 22 January 2008

To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families (1) how many primary schools in each London borough teach a modern foreign language; (179546)

(2) which modern foreign languages are taught in primary schools in London.

The table details the proportion of primary schools in each London borough which reported in autumn 2006 that they were teaching languages in class time. The data were obtained from ongoing research commissioned by the Department, which estimated the proportion of schools teaching languages in class time. The figures are based on a representative sample of maintained primary schools and the survey achieved a 48 per cent. response rate nationally.

The major languages taught in primary schools in London were French, German, Italian and Spanish. Other languages taught in a small number of schools included Chinese, Japanese, Urdu, Panjabi, Hebrew, Turkish, Albanian and Bengali.

London LAs

Percentage of responding primary schools teaching languages in class time

Camden

100.00

Greenwich

78.57

Hackney

77.78

Hammersmith and Fulham

83.33

Islington

100.00

Kensington and Chelsea

83.33

Lambeth

81.25

Lewisham

50.00

Southwark

78.57

Tower Hamlets

25.00

Wandsworth

93.75

Westminster

100.00

Barking and Dagenham

100.00

Bamet

66.67

Bexley

100.00

Brent

71.43

Bromley

86.67

Croydon

63.16

Ealing

72.22

Enfield

86.67

Haringey

71.43

Harrow

100.00

Havering

86.67

Hillingdon

76.92

Hounslow

84.62

Kingston on Thames

66.67

Merton

91.67

Newham

90.91

Redbridge

57.14

Richmond upon Thames

100.00

Sutton

90.91

Waltham Forest

36.36