Two-thirds of students opt for just one foreign language

Students attending church schools are the most likely to sit for exams in two or more foreign languages.

Statistics published by the University of Malta’s MATSEC examinations board show that a fifth of students hailing from church schools sit for two or more exams in contrast to only 6% of students in state schools, and 15% of students in independent schools.

66.6% of all candidates born in 2003 registered for only one foreign language, other than Maltese and English.

This marks a further increase over last year when 59% applied for one foreign language.

School differences between the different sectors are substantial. Candidates from state schools are the most likely to register for not a single foreign language (27.3%) and the least likely to register for two or more foreign languages (5.8%).

Candidates from church schools are the least likely to register for no foreign language (14.3%) and the most likely to register for two or more foreign languages (19.3%).

Among students attending independent schools, 22.3% do not register for any foreign language while 14.6% register for two or more foreign languages.

Italian remains by far the most popular option, followed by French, among these candidates.

Italian is the main foreign language studied in state schools. Students in independent schools are the most likely to choose French, with Italian coming a close second. Students in church schools are the most likely to opt for German, even if Italian and French are the most popular even in this sector.

Numbers of languages chosen in each school sector

Number of science subjects chosen in each sector 

State schools lag in science

Differences between school sectors are also considerable with regards to science choices.

Candidates from state secondary schools were more than three times as likely as church and independent school candidates not to apply for science subjects (13.3% compared to 3.6% in church schools and 1.8% in independent schools).

Additionally, candidates from state schools are much less likely to apply for the three science subjects.

Substantial differences also exist between the sexes. While more males opted for Physics as their single science subject, most of the candidates who registered for Biology only were females.

Chemistry is rarely taken as one’s only science subject. The largest category of candidates opting for two science subjects registered for Biology and Physics, suggesting, again, that most candidates shy away from choosing Chemistry.

The majority of candidates who studied more than one science subject were females. In 2019 only 14.1% of candidates born in 2003 applied for the three sciences (11.5% of boys and 16.7% of girls).