An education organisation has recommended that staff with teaching jobs in London and across the UK teach subjects such as geography and history in French.

The Specialist Schools and Academies Trust (SSAT) suggested that languages are best learnt in a bilingual setting.

The advice follows the considerable decline in modern language uptake by GCSE pupils since they were made optional in 2004.

According to the BBC, the number of pupils opting to take GCSE French and German has decreased by almost 50 per cent since 2002.

By learning languages alongside other subjects, pupils are more likely to have the language embedded into their learning, the organisation suggests.

SSAT also proposes that employers work with overseas businesses to encourage applied language learning.

The measures were put forward as more than 2,000 teachers attended the organisation’s annual conference in Birmingham.