The scrapping of the requirement to take a modern language at GCSE level has resulted in large numbers of children abandoning the subjects, a new study has found.

The two-year study, commissioned to research the impact of language lessons in primary school, has found that the beneficial results have been undermined by children not carrying their language studies past the age of 14.

Until 2003 it was compulsory for all GCSE students to study at least one modern language. This requirement was dropped in 2004, as the government believed it better to entice rather than compel pupils to study a modern language.

To this end, the government has attempted to increase enthusiasm and proficiency in languages by introducing lessons in primary schools, but the simultaneous decision to allow GCSE students not to take a language has seen exam entries in subjects such as French, German and Spanish fall by nearly half, from 75 to 44 per cent of students.

Perhaps even more worrying for the government is the study’s conclusion that the primary school lessons do not seem to be producing either dependable results or enthusiasm in pupils. ‘[There is] a lack of consistency at present in foreign language provision in primary school’, stated the researchers, who also noted that children were displaying ‘disaffection’ for modern languages by the time it came to choose their GCSE subjects.

A total of 1600 schools were included in the survey and teachers expressed a similar opinion, with nearly half of language heads agreeing that there were ‘negative effects’ of scrapping the GCSE modern language requisite.