A recent poll of 1600 teachers has revealed that the French exchange could be becoming a thing of the past.
What was once a typical part of school life – students spending a week with a French family and then returning the favour in the UK – is becoming less and less popular. The British Council report, points the finger at “safeguarding culture” as one of the reasons why just 25% of state secondary schools now offer exchanges, down from 29% last year and 30% in 2014.
Vicky Gough, schools advisor to the British Council said: “Because the regulations say parents should be DBS-checked, this makes people think this is a risky undertaking. Some schools and local authorities don’t allow any to take place for this reason. The whole culture of safeguarding has changed”.
The signs are not good for budding linguists, as the number of pupils taking French and German GCSEs and A-levels has dropped dramatically in recent years, with GCSE entries for both subjects falling by 30% since 2014. In an attempt to increase the number of pupils taking modern foreign languages at GCSE, the Government have set up a £2.5 million fund for schools to spend on taking disadvantaged children on trips abroad, including foreign language exchange trips.
