Spanish
Spanish has become the preferred foreign language for British secondary school students, surpassing French for the first time with a 2.6% increase in enrollments, according to data published this Thursday.
In 2025, 136,871 enrollments in Spanish were recorded for the General Certificate of Secondary Education, the British secondary education qualification known as GCSE, compared to 133,395 in 2024, all in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, according to data provided by the Joint Council of Qualifications (JCQ), the body that oversees the administration of the exams.
Enrollments in French classes decreased by 1.4% and reached 132,808, while last year they were 134,651, and German fell by 7% compared to last year (from 35,913 to 33,391 enrollments), according to the same data, which does not include those corresponding to Scotland.
"Spanish is a very widespread language worldwide, spoken by many people around the world and, as we know, Spain is a very popular vacation destination among Britons, which could have contributed to Spanish surpassing French this year," said Jill Duffy, chair of the JCQ board in a statement.
However, the reduction in enrollments in French and German is a "cause for concern", although the increase in Spanish demonstrates a "real appetite for language learning".
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Spanish is thus among the four subjects that reflected an increase in enrollment this year, along with History, Business Studies, Computer Science, and Statistics.
