One in three state sixth forms are language deserts with no pupils studying French, Spanish or German, new data shows.
Official figures reveal 35 per cent of state schools and colleges had no pupils taking exams in any of the three most popular modern foreign languages last year.
The data, from the Department for Education (DfE), shows even some grammar schools and top-performing comprehensives had no language students.
It comes amid a long-term decline in languages take-up, with maths and science seen as more valuable for career prospects.
Since 2004, when languages were made non-compulsory at GCSE, the number of pupils taking them at this level dropped from 500,000 to 300,000.
French saw the greatest drop, from 318,000 entries in 2004 to 135,000 last year.
It meant fewer pupils feeding through to A-level, leading to some sixth forms dropping languages all together.
The West Midlands has the highest proportion of schools where no pupils studied a major modern foreign language at A-level, at 47 per cent.
One in three state sixth forms are language deserts with no pupils studying French, Spanish or German, new data shows (file picture)
This was followed by Yorkshire and the Humber and the North East.
London and the East of England have the highest proportion of schools where at least one pupil studied French, Spanish or German in sixth-form.
In some parts of the country, sixth forms are dropping languages due to lack of demand.
One sixth former, Lauren, 17, told the Sunday Times she has to commute more than an hour by bus from Billingham, near Middlesbrough, to Darlington to study A-levels in Spanish, French and history.
Her nearest sixth-form is a five-minute drive away but none within 20 miles offers modern languages.
She said: ‘There was no sixth-form at my school and all the nearby colleges did not offer A-level languages, so I commute for over two hours a day. It was my only option.’
The situation was better in the independent sector, with only 17 per cent of private schools having no pupils studying French, Spanish or German A-level, the DfE figures showed.
A recent report by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) found only 3 per cent of A-levels taken in the UK in 2024 were in modern foreign languages, classical languages, Welsh and Irish.
There are now more A-level entries for physical education than for French, German and classical languages combined.
Part of the problem is a shortage of language teachers, meaning sixth forms cannot find the staff.
The Government managed to recruit only 43 per cent of its target number of modern foreign language teachers for initial teacher training in 2024-25.
This compares with 62 per cent of its target for overall secondary school teacher recruitment.
Vicky Gough, schools adviser at the British Council, said the decline in modern foreign language A-level entries was ‘of serious national concern’ and deprived children of ‘the language skills they need to thrive in a global society’.
The DfE has been contacted for comment.
