Teacher numbers in language subjects have fallen by 546 in the last 12 years, with rural schools bearing the brunt of the losses, figures show.

Figures from the Scottish Teacher Census, published in March, cover staffing levels in English, French, German and Italian between 2010 and 2022.

Rural schools have lost 322 language teachers across all four language subjects in the 12-year period, accounting for 58.9% of all losses.

The number of English teachers in rural schools have decreased by 153 and non-rural have increased by 12, giving a net decrease of 141, from 2,788 in 2010 to 2,647 last year.

In French, 319 teachers were lost, declining from 947 to 628, and 135 affecting local authorities in remote areas.

The number of German teachers declined by 83, from 166 in 2010, across Scotland, 34 of which came from rural schools.

Meanwhile, Italian teachers declined from 10 in 2010 to seven in 2022, however there are currently no rural schools with an Italian teacher, according to analysis of the figures.

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