Primary schools in Oxfordshire are surging ahead in a bid to end the British shyness for learning foreign languages, new figures show.

A Government survey reveals 81 per cent of primary schools across the country are giving seven to 11-year-olds the chance to learn a second language like French or German in class time.

But in Oxfordshire the proportion is even higher, with 87 per cent of the county's primary schools offering languages at Key Stage 2 when the data was collected last autumn.

By 2010 the Government wants learning a foreign language to be a compulsory part of the curriculum for seven to 14-year-olds.

But ministers have resisted calls to make languages compulsory beyond 14 - despite a fall in the number of pupils taking GCSEs.

The figures, published in a Parliamentary written answer, show Oxfordshire primary schools are doing significantly better than other parts of the country when it comes to foreign language tuition.

In Southampton just 20 per cent of primary pupils are given the chance to learn a foreign language, while in Portsmouth the figure is 16.6 per cent - making the areas the two worst in the country.

Meanwhile, some areas, including Reading, Blackpool and Camden, London, already offer every Key Stage 2 pupil second language tuition.

  • Sehr gut is German for very good.