Information on secondary school teachers and the subjects they are teaching is collected in the Secondary School Curriculum and Staffing Survey (SSCSS). The most recent survey was carried out in February 2007, and achieved a sample of 14,137 teachers in 327 schools. Results were grossed up to provide national estimates of the number of secondary school teachers in England by subject area.
The SSCSS survey estimated the following numbers of teachers delivering at least one period a week of the requested subjects1:
Subject Count of teachers German 6,600 Languages/Other Languages 1,000 Italian 280 Japanese 160 Mandarin/Chinese 50 Urdu 50 1 The table may include some double counting, as teachers are counted once under subject they are teaching. For example, a teacher who teaches Italian and German will be counted once under each subject. The table gives national estimates. Note: Data are rounded to nearest 10 Source: Secondary School Curriculum and Staffing Survey, 2007
The table includes a category of teachers who teach ‘Languages/Other Languages’—we do not know which language(s) these teachers are delivering and it is possible that it may include any of the subjects listed in the table. In addition, care should be taken when interpreting national estimates based upon a sample survey.
The number of teachers gaining QTS in Modern Foreign Languages in 2005-06, the most recent year for which data are available, was 1,260 (excluding those on employment based routes). We do not know which specific languages these teachers qualified in.