THE MP for North Cornwall has asked what can be done to increase the number of schools that offer Mandarin as a language choice.

Speaking in the Commons recently, Conservative Scott Mann asked the Minister for School Standards Nick Gibb: “How many secondary schools offer Mandarin as a language choice, and what can we do to increase the number of schools that offer it?”

Mr Gibb said this was an ‘important point’, adding: “In 2017, approximately 91 state-maintained schools entered students for Chinese GCSE. There were 3,654 GCSE entries in that year, and 2,800 A-level entries in 2018. Maintained secondary schools must teach a foreign language at key stage 3, and we fund 64 schools for the Mandarin excellence programme, which is intended to put 5,000 students on track towards becoming fluent in Mandarin.”