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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 10 December 2009
In the past decade or so there has been a well-documented decline in language take-up among secondary school pupils of Years 10 and 11 in England (14–16-year-olds, also referred to as Key Stage 4 in the national curriculum for England and Wales) and there have been fewer UK-domiciled undergraduates or postgraduates studying for a languages degree (a decrease of 5.7% and 2.3%, respectively in the academic year 2005–06 by comparison with 2002–03 (CILT 2009). However, having tracked trends in language learning for over a decade and in the light of our various research initiatives, at CILT, the National Centre for Languages, we believe that there are reasons for restrained optimism about the future of the UK's national capability in languages.