Spanish has overtaken French for the first time as the most widely taught language at the first three years of secondary education in schools in Northern Ireland, new research has found.
The Language Trends Northern Ireland 2025 report from the British Council also found growing linguistic diversity in schools, with nearly 30 different languages spoken at home by pupils in post-primary education.
The report also found a renewed growth and interest in the Irish language with an increase in GCSE entries.
The research is based on responses from more than 55% of post-primary schools in Northern Ireland, 17.4% of primary schools, and more than 1,000 Year 9 pupils who took part in the surveys.
It was carried out by the Centre for Language Education Research at Queen's University Belfast for the British Council Northern Ireland, a cultural relations organisation.
The report said there are now more than 21,350 newcomer pupils (learners whose home language is neither English nor Irish) enrolled in Northern Ireland schools, accounting for 6% of the school population in 2024-25.
More schools are offering support to pupils to take exams in their home languages, it says, with 70.5% of the post-primary schools surveyed offering pupils the opportunity to sit exams in their home or community languages, either within the school or externally.
The research also highlights the growing linguistic diversity in schools, with nearly 30 different languages spoken at home by pupils in post-primary education.
These include Arabic, Lithuanian, Bulgarian, Romanian, Polish, Portuguese and Mandarin.
The report also says that Spanish has overtaken French for the first time as the most popular language at Key Stage 3 (the first three years of secondary school), with 84.8% of schools now teaching Spanish, compared with 81% for French, down from 90% in 2023.
Irish is also seeing growth at Key Stage 3 and is now taught in 41.9% of schools, up from 35% in 2023.
At GCSE level, Spanish remains the most popular language, having held the top spot since overtaking French in 2021, the report says.
French continues to decline, with 11.4% of schools offering post-16 courses reporting that they have discontinued the subject.
German GCSE entries have dropped by more than half since 2002 - from 1,390 to 638 in 2024.
At A-level, Spanish remains the most popular language, followed by Irish and then French.
