Shift in language choices

There has been a marked increase in the numbers of students sitting non-curricular language subjects this year.

In total, 1,470 students elected to sit papers in non-curricular languages — an increase of 100 from last year.

Polish remains the most popular non-curricular language with 769 students sitting the exam this year — up from 707 in 2012.

The Latvian paper was taken by 105 students, up from 87 last year.

There was a slight decline in the uptake of Portuguese, Lithuanian, and Bulgarian.