Languages spoken in Aberdeen City...Languages spoken in Aberdeen City This is one in a series of briefing papers that has been produced by the Research and Information team. It is

RESEARCH AND INFORMATION

Languages spoken in Aberdeen City

Briefing paper 2016/02

1

Research and Information

Briefing Paper 2016/02 (Published April 2016)

Languages spoken in Aberdeen City

This is one in a series of briefing papers that has been produced by the Research and Information

team. It is intended that these papers will be used by Council services and, where appropriate, our

Community Planning partners to assist policy development and wider service delivery. Some papers,

including this one, may be of interest to a wider audience.

This paper looks at Languages spoken in Aberdeen City (including some information on

Aberdeenshire for comparison). Available information on languages comes primarily from the

Census which provides data on how well English is spoken by Aberdeen City’s population as well as

what languages are used at home. The Census also provides additional information about the level

of Gaelic language skills within Aberdeen City. Further information about languages used in

Aberdeen City was provided by Aberdeen City Council translation services (InterTrans) and also by

the Pupils Census.

For more information on these issues, please contact:

Research and Information Team Office of Chief Executive Aberdeen City Council 1st Floor, Old Town House Broad Street Aberdeen AB10 1FY 01224 523322 [email protected] Other briefing papers in this series have included the following topics:

Population Report, Aberdeen City and Shire

Population of Older People in Aberdeen

Migrant Workers in Aberdeen City and Shire

These papers, and other statistical reports, can be found in the ‘Stats and Facts’ section of the Aberdeen City Council website: www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/statsandfacts

We value your comments/feedback and would appreciate if you could provide your comments on this paper by clicking the following link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/research-feedback-form

http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/statsandfacts

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Summary

English is the main language spoken in Aberdeen City. At the time of the 2011 Census, 98%

of Aberdeen City’s population reported speaking English well or very well.

36% of Aberdeen City’s population said they were able to speak Scots. Just under 2% of

Aberdeen City’s population reported speaking Scots at home.

Less than 1% of Aberdeen city’s population said they were able to speak Gaelic. The ability

to speak Gaelic was most common in adults aged between 18 years and 50 years, and those

with higher levels of educational qualifications.

While most people in Aberdeen City could speak English, over 12% said they used a language

other than English or Scots at home.

Following English, the most common language used at home was Polish with 3% of the

population speaking Polish at home. Polish speakers were most common in the younger

adult age groups (25 to 34 year age group).

The 2011 Census recorded a total of 68 languages used in Aberdeen. The most common

languages (other than English, Polish or other UK languages) were French, Chinese, Russian,

Spanish, German and Arabic.

Over 9% of the City’s population used an ‘other’ language at home. As with Polish, the

highest numbers of people who used an ‘other’ language at home were in the younger adult

age groups (20 to 39 years).

Users of languages other than English were unevenly distributed throughout the City.

Proportions of people who spoke English only at home (based on intermediate zones)

ranged from a high of 93.4% in Danestone to a low of 68.5% in Tillydrone.

In 2014/2015, a total of 3,291 requests were received by InterTrans (a service that provides

translation, interpreting and communication support to users and providers of Aberdeen

City Council’s services). This is an increase of almost 90% from 2011/2012 levels. The most

common languages requested were Polish, Russian and Lithuanian.

In 2015, 18% of pupils in publicly funded schools in Aberdeen City reported that English was

not their main home language. The most common languages spoken at home (other than

English) were Polish (7%), Malayalam (1%) and Arabic (1%).

There were considerable differences between schools - at primary school level, the

proportion of children who reported having English as their main language at home ranged

from a high of almost 98% at Culter School to a low of 25% in St Peter’s RC School. At

secondary school level, the proportion of pupils who reported English as their main home

language ranged from a high of 96% at Cults Academy to a low of 72% at Torry Academy.

There has been a sharp rise in the number of school children whose main home language is

not English. Since 2010 the numbers have increased by almost 60% from 2,422 in 2010 to

3,478 in 2015.

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Languages Spoken in Aberdeen City

1. Background Information

Possibly the most comprehensive source of information relating to languages spoken in Aberdeen

City comes from Census data. At the time of the 2011 Census, Aberdeen City had a total population

of 222,793. The population in Aberdeenshire was 252,973. Scotland’s population was 5,295,403.

A number of factors are likely to influence what languages are spoken in a particular area, including

the ethnic composition of the population, or an individual’s country of birth and length of residence

in the UK. To provide context for the language profile, this section therefore gives a brief overview

of these factors. This information is taken from the Area Profiles provided by the 2011 Census (and

is therefore consistent with the time period that the language data is available).

1.1. Ethnicity

At the time of the 2011 Census, 11.9% of households in Aberdeen City were composed of people

who were not all in the same ethnic group category. This is slightly higher than the figure for

Scotland as a whole (10.6%), but lower than the figure for Aberdeenshire which was 13.0% (see

Figure 1.1).

Figure 1.1: Percentage of households where not all persons are in the same ethnic group category,

Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Scotland, 2011 Census

Source: Scotland’s Census 2011, Available at: http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/ods-web/area.html

While Aberdeenshire had a higher proportion of households with mixed ethnicity, the ethnic

composition of the population was less varied than in Aberdeen City. In Aberdeenshire, 82.2% of the

population classified their ethnicity as ‘White – Scottish’, compared to 75.3% of Aberdeen City’s

population. In Scotland the figure was 84.0%. Aberdeenshire also had a much higher proportion of

people who classified their ethnicity as ‘White – other British’ at 12.3%, compared to 7.6% in

Aberdeen City and 7.9% in Scotland as a whole. The total proportion of the population who were

either ‘White – Scottish’ or ‘White – other British’ was 94.5% for Aberdeenshire, 91.9% for Scotland

and 82.9% for Aberdeen City (see Figure 1.2).

0

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4

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12

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Percentage of households where not all persons are in same ethnic group category

Pe

rce

nta

ge %

Aberdeen City Aberdeenshire Scotland

http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/ods-web/area.html

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Figure 1.2: Proportion of population who classified their ethnicity as ‘White – Scottish’ or ‘White –

other British’, Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Scotland, 2011 Census


The lower proportion of ‘White – Scottish’ and ‘White – Other British’ ethnic group categories in

Aberdeen City compared to Aberdeenshire and Scotland as a whole, translates to a higher

proportion of the population in the City being represented in other ethnic group categories. Almost

5% of Aberdeen City’s population classified themselves as ‘White – Other’, 4.3% as Asian, Asian

Scottish or Asian British and 3.2 % as ‘White – Polish’. Figure 1.3 presents percentages of the

population in different ethnic group categories for Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Scotland.

Figure 1.3: Percentage of population in specific ethnic group categories, Aberdeen City,

Aberdeenshire and Scotland, 2011 Census


76

78

80

82

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86

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92

94

96

% White - Scottish or other British

Pe

rce

nta

ge %


0

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% White - Irish % White - Polish % White - Other % Asian, AsianScottish or Asian

British

% Other ethnicgroups

Pe

rce

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1.2. Country of birth

Scotland’s Census also collects information on ‘country of birth’. At the time of the 2011 Census,

75% of Aberdeen City’s population reported Scotland as their country of birth. This figure was lower

than that of either Aberdeenshire (80.5%) or Scotland (83.3%) – see Figure 1.4.

Figure 1.4: Percentage of the population who have Scotland as their country of birth, Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Scotland, 2011 Census


Figure 1.5 below shows percentages of the population by country of birth (excluding Scotland) for

Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Scotland. As can be seen from the figure, the percentage of the

population born in England was higher in Aberdeenshire (12.1%) than in either Aberdeen City (8.1%)

or Scotland (8.7%). However, Aberdeen City had a much higher percentage of people born in Other

EU countries (6.4%) and Other countries (8.9%) than both Aberdeenshire and Scotland. For all three

areas, the percentage of the population born in Wales, Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland

was less than 1%.

Figure 1.5: Percentage of population by country of birth (excluding Scotland), Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Scotland


70

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84

Scotland

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% England % Wales % NorthernIreland

% Republic ofIreland

% Other EUcountries (incUK part notspecified)

% Othercountries

Pe

rce

nta

ge %




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1.3. Length of residence in the UK

At the time of the 2011 Census, 15.9% (35,436 people) of Aberdeen City’s population was born

outside the UK. The respective figures were 5.9% (15,047) for Aberdeenshire and 7.0% (369, 284)

for Scotland.

Figure 1.6 below shows how long those born outside the UK had been resident in the UK. As can be

seen from the graph, Aberdeen City had a higher proportion of people who have been resident in

the UK for a relatively short time, than had either Aberdeenshire or Scotland. In Aberdeen City more

than 60% of those born outside the UK had been living in the UK for less than 5 years, compared to

40% in Aberdeenshire and 44% in Scotland.

Figure 1.6: Length of time resident in the UK (for all those born outside the UK), Aberdeen City,

Aberdeenshire and Scotland, 2011 Census.


2. Languages spoken

Information about the languages that people use is collected in the Census in a number of ways. The

first of these looks at how well people speak English.

2.1. Speaks English

According to the 2011 Census, 97.6% of the population of Aberdeen City (aged 3 years and over)

spoke English ‘well’ or ‘very well’. This was broadly similar to the corresponding figures for

Aberdeenshire (98.2%) and for Scotland as a whole (98.6%). In Aberdeen City, 2.4% of the

population were reported as not speaking English well or not speaking English at all. The figures for

Aberdeenshire and Scotland were 1.8% and 1.4% respectively.

0

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30

35

40

45

% Resident in UK forless than 2 years

% Resident in UK for 2years or more but less

than 5 years

% Resident in UK for 5years or more but less

than 10 years

% Resident in UK for10 years or more

Pe

rce

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Table 2.1: Proficiency in spoken English in population aged 3 years and over, Aberdeen City,

Aberdeenshire and Scotland, 2011 Census

Aberdeen City (n = 215,597)

Aberdeenshire (n = 243,826)

Scotland (n = 5,118,223)

% % %

% Speaks English well or very well 97.6 98.2 98.6

% Does not speak English well 2.0 1.5 1.2

% Does not speak English at all 0.4 0.3 0.2

% Able to speak Gaelic 0.8 0.6 1.1

% Able to speak Scots 35.5 48.8 30.1

Source: Scotland’s Census, 2011, Available at: http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/ods-web/area.html

The Census also asked people if they were able to speak Gaelic and Scots.

Scottish Gaelic is a Celtic language, descended from Old Irish, which is one of the national languages

of Scotland. It is also commonly known as Scots Gaelic or Gáidhlig. In both Aberdeen City (0.8%) and

Aberdeenshire (0.6%), less than 1% of the population reported being able to speak Gaelic – slightly

lower than the average for Scotland of 1.1% (see Table 2.1 above).

The Scots Language Centre defines Scots as the collective name for Scottish dialects known also as

'Doric', 'Lallans' and 'Scotch' or by more local names for example 'Buchan', 'Dundonian', 'Glesca' or

'Shetland'. In Aberdeen City, 35.5% of the population reported that they were able to speak Scots.

This is higher than the figure for Scotland as a whole (30.1%), but considerably lower than the figure

for Aberdeenshire where almost half (48.8%) of the population reported being able to speak Scots

(Table 2.1 above).

2.2. Uses language other than English at home

In Aberdeen City, 14.5% (31,262) of people aged 3 years and over reported using a language other

than English at home. The figure was slightly lower in Aberdeenshire at 9.9% (24,162). Both of

these were higher than the rate for Scotland which was 7.4%. Figure 2.1 shows the number of

people and language spoken at home (other than English) for Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire.

Figure 2.1: Number of people using language other than English at home, Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire, 2011 Census

Source: Scotland’s Census, 2011, Table DC2119SC, Available at http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/ods-web/standard-outputs.html

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

Gaelic British Signlanguage

Scots Polish Other

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er

of

pe

op

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Aberdeen City Aberdeenshire


http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/ods-web/standard-outputs.html

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As can be seen in the above chart, only a relatively small number of people in both Aberdeen City

and Aberdeenshire reported using Gaelic at home – 405 people in Aberdeen City and 194 people in

Aberdeenshire. Numbers of people using British Sign Language were higher at 563 for Aberdeen City

and 418 for Aberdeenshire.

In Aberdeenshire, the most common language other than English used at home was Scots, with

13,495 people (5.5% of the population aged 3 years and over) in Aberdeenshire saying they spoke

Scots at home compared to 4,178 people (1.9%) in Aberdeen City. Figure 2.2 shows the number of

people who use Scots at home by age group for both Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire. This figure

emphasises the higher number of Scots speakers in Aberdeenshire and it also shows the higher

number of Scots speakers in the older age groups for both areas.

Figure 2.2: Number of people who use Scots at home, Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire, 2011 Census


In Aberdeen City, the most common language other than English used at home was Polish. At the

time of the Census, 6,263 people in Aberdeen City spoke Polish at home – equivalent to 2.9% of the

population aged 3 years and over. In Aberdeenshire, the figure was 2,787 (1.1%). Figure 2.3 shows

the age breakdown of those who use Polish at home for Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire. As can

be seen, and in contrast with the pattern of Scots speakers, the highest numbers of Polish speakers

in both areas are in the younger adult age groups (25-29 years and 30-34 years) – with numbers of

Polish speakers tailing off in the older age groups. While there are few Polish speakers in the older

teenage age groups (15-19 years), the graph also highlights the number of school-age children who

speak Polish.

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Figure 2.3: Number of people who use Polish at home, Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire, 2011

Census


Aberdeen City also had a higher proportion of people who used ‘Other’ languages at home

compared to Aberdeenshire. In Aberdeen City, 9.2% (19,853 people) of the population aged 3 years

and over used ‘Other’ languages compared to 3.0% (7,268 people) of the population aged 3 years

and over in Aberdeenshire. Figure 2.4 shows the age breakdown of those who used ‘Other’

languages at home for both Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire. As can be seen from this chart, in

some respects the pattern of ‘Other’ language use in Aberdeen City is broadly similar to that for use

of Polish, in that highest users of ‘Other’ languages are again those in the younger adult age groups.

However, here the number of ‘Other’ language users peaks in the 20-24 age group. In

Aberdeenshire the number of users of ‘Other’ languages at home is considerably lower than

Aberdeen City with the highest numbers being in the 30-34 year and 35-39 year age groups. As with

Polish, there are few older teenagers who use ‘Other’ languages, but a relatively high number of

school-age children who speak ‘Other’ languages at home.

Figure 2.4: Number of people who use ‘Other’ languages at home, Aberdeen City and

Aberdeenshire, 2011 Census


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2.3. Language use by intermediate zone, Aberdeen City

Table 2.2 gives a summary of language data by intermediate zone for Aberdeen City (based on 2011

Census). There is considerable variation between different areas of the City; so while most areas

have a very high proportion of the population who ‘speak English well or very well’ or who use

‘English only’ at home, there are other areas where proportions are less high, or where relatively

high proportions use a language other than English at home. To allow ease of comparison, the

shaded areas in the Table columns highlight the main areas of difference between intermediate

zones (where there is no shading in the column, the percentages are broadly similar across all

intermediate zones).

Out of the 47 intermediate zones in Aberdeen City, there were 5 where less than 95% of the

population reported speaking English well or very well - Tillydrone (90.0%), Torry West (92.2%),

Woodside (93.2%), Torry East (93.5%) and Heathryfold and Middlefield (94.4%). While the

proportion of people who could speak Gaelic was low (approximately 1%) in all intermediate zones,

the distribution of Scots speakers was slightly more varied, with 7 intermediate zones where the

proportion of people who could speak Scots was greater than 45%. There were 11 intermediate

zones where less than 80% of the population spoke English at home with the lowest being Tillydrone

(68.5%). There were 7 intermediate zones where more than 5% of the population spoke Polish at

home, with the highest proportion of Polish speakers being in Tillydrone (17.5%). There were 17

intermediate zones where more than 10% of the population spoke an ‘Other’ language at home,

with the highest proportion being in Old Aberdeen (23.4%). The use of Scots, Gaelic and BSL at

home was relatively low in all intermediate zones with little variation between different areas.

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Table 2.2: Language use by intermediate zone, Aberdeen City, 2011 Census

Intermediate Zone

All people aged 3

and over

Speaks Englishwell or

very well

Can speak Gaelic

Can speak Scots

Language other than English used at home

English only

Gaelic Scots British

Sign Language

Polish Other

n % % % % % % % % %

Cove South 3158 99.4 0.5 41.5 93.2 0.1 2.6 0.1 0.4 3.6

Kincorth, Leggart & Nigg South 4644 98.4 0.6 45.5 90.9 0.1 2.6 0.4 1.4 4.7

Culter 4694 99.1 0.5 37.6 91.4 0.0 2.5 0.1 0.6 5.4

Cults, Bieldside & Milltimber E 5932 98.8 0.6 21.3 86.9 0.3 0.9 0.1 0.3 11.6

Cove North 3565 98.1 0.4 42.1 93.0 0.1 1.5 0.4 1.7 3.3

Kincorth, Leggart & Nigg North 3943 98.3 0.5 46.1 91.1 0.1 2.6 0.4 2.1 3.8

Cults, Bieldside & Milltimber W 3911 98.7 0.4 24.6 87.8 0.2 1.4 0.2 0.5 9.9

Garthdee 5069 98.0 0.6 39.1 86.5 0.1 2.3 0.3 2.4 8.3

Braeside, Mannofield, Br. & SeS 3679 99.5 0.8 34.3 91.3 0.5 2.3 0.1 0.6 5.3

Ferryhill South 4612 98.4 1.3 30.9 86.9 0.4 1.8 0.2 1.6 9.2

Braeside, Mannofield, Br. & SeE 4264 98.8 0.9 31.2 89.0 0.3 1.5 0.1 0.9 8.2

Torry West 5476 92.2 1.1 40.3 77.0 0.1 2.4 0.6 11.1 8.9

Braeside, Mannofield, Br. & SeN 4419 99.0 0.9 28.7 89.5 0.4 1.4 0.1 0.2 8.4

Hazlehead 4805 98.6 0.4 34.3 91.5 0.1 1.7 0.2 0.8 5.7

Torry East 4401 93.5 0.8 42.5 81.6 0.1 2.1 0.7 9.1 6.5

Ferryhill North 4753 98.4 0.9 28.3 83.9 0.1 1.5 0.2 1.8 12.5

West End South 5949 98.1 0.8 26.2 84.2 0.2 1.1 0.2 1.9 12.4

City Centre 6381 98.1 1.1 26.9 77.9 0.2 1.6 0.2 3.6 16.5

West End North 3409 98.7 0.7 22.7 88.2 0.4 0.9 0.1 0.2 10.3

Summerhill 3772 98.2 0.7 40.9 88.3 0.2 1.8 0.5 1.4 7.9

Rosemount 5676 97.3 1.0 27.8 79.6 0.4 1.4 0.2 2.8 15.7

Hanover 7227 97.7 1.1 27.6 79.6 0.2 1.7 0.3 3.2 15.1

Midstocket 4449 98.3 0.7 28.0 86.5 0.2 2.3 0.2 0.5 10.3

George Street 6696 97.3 1.3 28.8 78.1 0.4 1.1 0.1 4.1 16.3

Mastrick 4623 98.3 0.4 44.6 90.9 0.0 2.1 0.4 1.8 4.9

Ashgrove 3590 97.5 0.6 30.2 79.3 0.2 1.8 0.1 3.2 15.4

Sheddocksley 4755 98.5 0.3 44.3 91.8 0.1 2.5 0.6 1.0 4.0

Stockethill 5165 97.7 0.7 41.3 84.9 0.1 2.5 0.4 2.0 10.1

Froghall, Powis & Sunnybank 5557 96.5 1.3 26.4 75.2 0.3 1.4 0.1 5.2 17.8

Cummings Park 3424 98.4 0.5 45.7 91.5 0.0 2.1 0.2 1.3 4.9

Northfield 5291 97.9 0.6 49.2 91.0 0.1 2.2 0.4 2.0 4.3

Seaton 5448 95.9 1.1 30.9 76.0 0.2 1.6 0.3 7.5 14.4

Hilton 5697 98.0 0.8 37.2 84.0 0.2 2.6 0.4 2.4 10.3

Heathryfold & Middlefield 5052 94.4 0.8 40.1 81.5 0.0 1.8 0.5 9.8 6.4

Kingswells 5145 98.2 0.5 31.9 88.0 0.3 1.6 0.2 0.6 9.4

Tillydrone 4227 90.9 0.9 35.8 68.5 0.1 1.8 0.2 17.5 12.0

Old Aberdeen 4331 97.2 1.3 23.6 70.7 0.3 1.0 0.3 4.3 23.4

Woodside 3814 93.2 1.2 36.2 76.6 0.3 1.7 0.4 10.8 10.2

Bucksburn South 3169 98.3 0.5 46.5 91.6 0.1 3.0 0.4 1.9 3.1

Danestone 3920 99.0 0.5 36.3 93.4 0.2 1.4 0.1 0.4 4.4

Balgownie & Donmouth West 3504 99.1 0.5 45.6 91.6 0.2 3.4 0.2 1.3 3.3

Balgownie & Donmouth East 2639 98.3 0.6 43.2 89.0 0.2 2.9 0.2 1.2 6.6

Bucksburn North 4419 98.7 0.5 47.1 92.4 0.1 3.2 0.2 1.0 3.2

Oldmachar East 4782 98.6 0.4 37.8 90.8 0.2 1.9 0.3 0.3 6.6

Oldmachar West 4194 99.1 0.6 41.3 91.7 0.2 2.3 0.1 0.7 5.0

Denmore 2824 97.6 0.7 38.9 90.4 0.1 1.9 0.1 0.5 7.0

Dyce 5239 98.7 0.6 45.1 91.8 0.1 3.4 0.4 1.0 3.3

Source: Scotland’s Census, 2011, Table KS206SC Available at: http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/ods-web/standard-outputs.html


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2.4. Range of languages used, Aberdeen City

The 2011 Census recorded a total of 68 languages used in Aberdeen. Table 2.3 lists the top 10

languages (other than English) used at home for Aberdeen City’s population. Apart from Polish and

Other UK languages (including Scots), the most common languages used at home were French and

Chinese. A full list of all languages used at home in Aberdeen City is given in Appendix 1.

Table 2.3: 10 most common languages used at home, Aberdeen City, 2011 Census

Language* used at home Number of people (aged

3 years and over)

Polish 6263

Other UK language (including Scots) 4770

French 1417

Chinese 1123

Russian 994

Spanish 988

German 928

Arabic 913

Malayalam 724

Yoruba 714

Source: Scotland’s Census, 2011, Available at: http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/documents/cde/CT_0116_2011.xlsx *(Full information on what is included in each of the language categories can be found on the above link.)

2.5. Speaks Gaelic

Further information on the use of the Gaelic language was made available by National Records of

Scotland who produced two reports which provide additional analyses of Census data. (Full reports

available at: http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/analytical-reports).

The Census asked people to report on their Gaelic skills – asking whether they could understand,

speak, read or write Gaelic. Table 2.4 presents a summary of this information for Aberdeen City and

Aberdeenshire.

In Aberdeen City, there were 3,174 people (aged 3 years and over) who reported having some skills

in Gaelic (1.5% of the City’s population aged 3 years and over). Of these, 835 could speak, read and

write Gaelic, while 840 people said they could understand spoken Gaelic but could not speak, read or

write it. Overall, in Aberdeen City, more men (1,636) than women (1,538) reported having some

level of skill in Gaelic. However, a higher number of women (502) than men (435) reporting having

the most comprehensive level of skill (i.e. speaking, reading and writing). In Aberdeenshire the

number of people who reported having some level of skill in Gaelic was lower than in Aberdeen City

– 2,721 compared to 3,174 (1.1% of Aberdeenshire’s population aged 3 years and over). Again, a

higher number of men (1,391) than women (1,330) had some skills in Gaelic, although a higher

number of women (388) than men (340) reporting being able to speak, read and write Gaelic.

http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/documents/cde/CT_0116_2011.xlsx

http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/analytical-reports

13

Table 2.4: Number of people with different skills in the Gaelic language, males and females (aged 3 years and over), Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire, Census 2011

Total population

Speaks, reads and

writes Gaelic (1)

Speaks and reads but does not

write Gaelic

Speaks but does not reads or

write Gaelic

Understand spoken

Gaelic but does not

speak, read or write

Reads and/or

writes but does not

speak Gaelic

Some skills in Gaelic

number number number number number number

Aberdeen City

Male 106,426 435 71 306 642 182 1,636

Female 109,171 502 75 247 558 156 1,538

Total 215,597 937 146 553 1,200 338 3,174

Aberdeenshire

Male 120,629 340 87 278 554 132 1,391

Female 123,197 388 75 237 516 114 1,330

Total 243,826 728 162 515 1,070 246 2,721

Source: Scotland’s Census 2011, Available at: http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/ods-web/data-warehouse.html#additionaltab Table AT_234_2011 - Gaelic language skills by sex, 2011 (1) Includes a small number of people who responded that they could speak and write but not read Gaelic.

Figure 2.5 shows the breakdown of skill level for Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Scotland. To

allow direct comparison between the three areas, figures are given as a percentage of all those with

some level of Gaelic skill. As can be seen from the chart, a slightly different pattern of skills is

apparent between Scotland as a whole and both Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire. The largest

single group (37.2%) for Scotland is those who can speak, read and write Gaelic, while for both

Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire the largest group is composed of those who understand, but do

not speak, read or write Gaelic – 37.8% for Aberdeen City and 39.3% for Aberdeenshire. Overall,

Scotland has a larger proportion of people who include speaking Gaelic as one of their skills – 66%

for Scotland compared to 52% for both Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire.

Figure 2.5: Percentage of people (aged 3 and over) by skill level in Gaelic, Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Scotland, Census 2011

Source: Scotland’s Census 2011, Available at: http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/ods-web/data-warehouse.html#additionaltab Table AT_234_2011 - Gaelic language skills, 2011 (1) Includes a small number of people who responded that they could speak and write but not read Gaelic.

05

1015202530354045

Speaks, reads andwrites Gaelic (1)

Speaks and reads butdoes not write Gaelic

Speaks but does notread or write Gaelic

Understands but doesnot speak, read or

write Gaelic

Reads and/or writesbut does not speak

Gaelic

Pe

rce

nta

ge o

f G

aelic

Use

rs


http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/ods-web/data-warehouse.html#additionaltab


14

2.5.1. Speaks Gaelic by Age

At the time of the Census in 2011, in Aberdeen City a total of 1,642 people spoke Gaelic. For

Aberdeenshire the total number of Gaelic speakers was 1,408. (Please note: these figures include all

people, not just those aged 3 years and over, and so do not precisely match totals from Table 2.4

above.)

Figure 2.6 gives the breakdown of Gaelic speakers by age group for Aberdeen City and

Aberdeenshire. Numbers of Gaelic speakers in the younger age groups (0 to 2 years, 3 to 4 years, 5

to 11 years and 12 to 17 years) are very similar in the two areas. Similarly, for both areas, the highest

number of Gaelic speakers was in the 35 to 49 year age group (364 in Aberdeen City and 368 in

Aberdeenshire). However, either side of this peak, the pattern is different for the two areas. In

Aberdeen City there are many more Gaelic speakers in the younger adult age groups (18 to 24 years

and 25 to 34 years), while in Aberdeenshire the number of Gaelic speakers is relatively low in these

age groups and higher in the older age groups (50 to 64 years and 65 years and over). Over two-

thirds (67.8%) of Gaelic speakers in Aberdeenshire are aged 35 years and over, compared to only

half (49.9%) of those in Aberdeen City.

Figure 2.6: Number of Gaelic speakers by age group, Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire, Census

2011

Source: Scotland’s Census 2011, Available at: http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/ods-web/data-warehouse.html#additionaltab Table

AT_236_2011 - Gaelic language skills by age, 2011

2.5.2. Gaelic skills by highest level of qualification

Table 2.5 shows Gaelic language skills by highest level of qualification for Aberdeen City and

Aberdeenshire (all people aged 16-74 years). In both areas, the number of people with any level of

Gaelic skill was greatest in those whose highest qualification was Level 4 (degree level and above/or

equivalent). In Aberdeen City, almost half (47.2%) of those who reported any Gaelic skill were

qualified to Level 4, and in Aberdeenshire the figure was 38.5%.

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

0 to 2 3 to 4 5 to 11 12 to 17 18 to 24 25 to 34 35 to 49 50 to 64 65 andover

Nu

mb

er

of

Gae

lic s

pe

ake

rs

Age groups (years)



15

Table 2.5: Gaelic language skills by highest level of qualification(1), Aberdeen City and Aberdeenshire, All people aged 16-74 years, 2011 Census

Speaks, reads and

writes Gaelic (2)

Speaks and reads but does not

write Gaelic

Speaks but does not read or

write Gaelic

Understands but does not speak, read

or write Gaelic

Reads and/or

writes but does not

speak Gaelic

Total

number number number number number Number (%)*

Aberdeen City

No qualifications 74 14 64 90 20 262 (9.2)

Level 1 102 26 73 172 34 407 (14.2)

Level 2 202 20 79 150 66 517 (18.1)

Level 3 84 16 65 129 31 325 (11.4)

Level 4 361 60 210 558 160 1,349 (47.2)

Total 823 136 491 1,099 311 2,860 (100.0)

Aberdeenshire

No qualifications 101 25 68 140 25 359 (15.6)

Level 1 129 27 78 195 42 471 (20.5)

Level 2 73 11 76 117 23 300 (13.0)

Level 3 59 13 58 134 20 284 (12.4)

Level 4 248 67 134 335 100 884 (38.5)

Total 610 143 414 921 210 2,298 (100.0)

Source: Scotland’s Census 2011, Available at: http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/ods-web/data-warehouse.html#additionaltab , Table AT_252_2011 - Gaelic language skills by highest level of qualification, 2011. (1) For full definition of qualification levels see table on link. (2) Includes a small number of people who responded that they could speak and write but not read Gaelic. *May not add up to 100% due to rounding.

Figure 2.7 shows the data for Aberdeen City graphically. The chart clearly highlights that any type of

Gaelic language skill is much more common in those with Level 4 qualifications.

Figure 2.7: Gaelic language skills by highest level of qualification (1), Aberdeen City, All people aged 16-74 years, 2011 Census

Source: Scotland’s Census 2011, Available at: http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/ods-web/data-warehouse.html#additionaltab , Table AT_252_2011 - Gaelic language skills by highest level of qualification , 2011. (1) For definition of qualification levels see Table on link.

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

Speaks, reads andwrites Gaelic (2)

Speaks and reads butdoes not write Gaelic

Speaks but does notread or write Gaelic

Understands but doesnot speak, read or write

Gaelic

Reads and/or writesbut does not speak

Gaelic

Nu

mb

er

of

pe

op

le

No qualifications Level 1 Level 2 Level 3 Level 4



16

3. Other sources of information about languages in Aberdeen City

The data from the Census is useful in that it provides a comprehensive picture of languages used in

Aberdeen City and covers the whole population of the city. However, Census data is limited in that it

is now relatively dated (almost 5 years since the Census date – 27th March 2011) and changes to the

population (e.g. through in/out migration) are likely to have had an impact on languages used in

Aberdeen City. Other sources of data are therefore useful to provide a more up-to-date view. This

section will present information provided by the Council’s translation service and also from the

Aberdeen City Pupil Census.

3.1. InterTrans Service

‘InterTrans’ is a service that provides confidential translation, interpreting and communication

support services to users and providers of Aberdeen City Council's services. The service aims to offer

improved access to users of council services whose first language is not English and / or have other

communication needs. A point of note with this data is that it relates only to those who contact the

service and so will not necessarily reflect the full requirement level for the services provided.

Table 3.1 shows the number of requests received by the service each year from 2011/12 to 2014/15.

In 2014/15 the service received a total of 3,291 requests, of which 1,566 were internal requests and

1,703 were external requests. The total number of requests received per year has increased every

year over this period, with the total number of requests in 2014/2015 (3,291) being almost double

the number received in 2011/2012 (1,737).

Table 3.1: Number of requests received each year by InterTrans Service, 2011/12 to 2014/15

Financial Year

Internal request

External Requests

Unclassified requests

Total number of requests

Comments

2011/2012 1064 609 65 1737

2012/2013 1401 707 47 2155 Increased by 418 requests from previous year

2013/2014 1835 1375 38 3248 Increased by 1093 requests from previous year

2014 /2015 1566 1703 22 3291 Increased by 43 requests from previous year

Source: InterTrans Service, Aberdeen City Council

Figure 3.1 presents trends for the number of requests from 2011/12 to 2014/15. This figure

highlights the substantial rise in the total number of requests received each year – in particular the

sharp increase which took place between 2012/13 and 2013/14 when the number of requests rose

by 1,093 from the previous year. This new higher level of requests remained in 2014/15. However,

while yearly levels of both internal and external requests were higher at the end than at the start of

the period, there has been an interesting reversal with the number of external requests now

exceeding the number of internal requests.

17

Figure 3.1: Trends for numbers of requests (total, internal and external) received by InterTrans

Service, 2011/12 to 2014/15


3.1.1. Languages requested

The table below shows the top 10 languages that were requested for each financial year. Polish

remains the most commonly requested language in Aberdeen City, with the number of requests

almost doubling in the four year period - from 898 requests in 2011/12 to 1,610 requests in 2014/15.

In each year, Russian and Lithuanian were the next most commonly requested languages. The

number of requests for both languages also increased over the period, with the requests for Russian

more than tripling from 158 requests in 2011/12 to 480 requests in 2014/15.

Table 3.2: InterTrans Service, most commonly requested languages, 2011/12 to 2015

2011/2012 2012/2013 2013/2014 2014/2015

Language No. of

requests Language

No. of requests

Language No. of

requests Language

No. of requests

Polish 898 Polish 890 Polish 1531 Polish 1610

Lithuanian 175 Russian 382 Russian 418 Russian 480

Russian 158 Lithuanian 148 Lithuanian 262 Lithuanian 304

Latvian 78 Bengali 141 Mandarin 186 Mandarin 147

Bengali 64 Mandarin 123 Bengali 135 Latvian 125

BSL 54 BSL 82 Latvian 105 Cantonese 88

Mandarin 39 Cantonese 58 BSL 74 BSL 73

Cantonese 37 Latvian 55 Cantonese 61 Bengali 50

Romanian 31 Thai 24 Portuguese 50 Arabic 46

Hungarian 29 Spanish & Turkish

24 Romanian & Hungarian

44 Romanian 45


0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

2011/2012 2012/2013 2013/2014 2014 /2015

Total number of requests Internal request External Requests

18

3.2. School Pupils – Main home language

Information on language spoken at home is collected each year in the Pupil Census. The most recent

Pupil Census was undertaken in September 2015 (Census Day 16th September 2015). In Aberdeen, a

total of 22,262 pupils were included in the Census – 13,354 from primary schools, 8,753 from

secondary schools and 155 from special schools.

Table 3.3 shows the four languages most commonly reported as main language at home across all

school sectors (primary, secondary and special schools). Overall, 82.3% (18,321) of school pupils

reported English as their main home language. The proportion with English as their main home

language was higher in secondary schools (85.8%) than in either primary schools (80.0%) or specials

schools (80.0%). The next most common main home language was Polish with 6.8% (1,508) of all

Aberdeen City’s pupils reporting this as their main home language. Again there were differences

between sectors with 7.8% of pupils in primary schools having Polish as their main home language

compared to 5.2% in secondary schools. Malayalam and Arabic were the next most common

languages overall. In each case less than 1% of pupils reported these as their main home language.

Table 3.3: Most commonly reported main language at home, Aberdeen City School Pupils, 2015

English Polish Malayalam Arabic

Sector Number

Percent

Number

Percent

Number

Percent

Number

Percent

Primary 10,687 80.0 1,040 7.8 139 1.0 141 1.1

Secondary 7,510 85.8 458 5.2 69 0.8 62 0.7

Special 124 80.0 10 6.5 - - 2 1.3

Total 18,321 82.3 1,508 6.8 208 0.9 205 0.9

Source: Pupil Census 2015, Aberdeen City Council

A total of 93 languages were identified in the Pupil Census as being the main language at home for

Aberdeen City pupils. Table 3.4 lists the languages most commonly reported (by more than 50

pupils) as the main language at home across all school sectors.

19

Table 3.4: Languages most commonly reported as main language at home, Aberdeen City School

Pupils, 2015

Language Number of pupils Percentage of all pupils

English 18,231 82.3

Polish 1,508 6.8

Malayalam 208 0.9

Arabic 205 0.9

Russian 166 0.7

Urdu 148 0.7

Lithuanian 125 0.6

Latvian 114 0.5

Bengali 113 0.5

Spanish 91 0.4

French 84 0.4

Hungarian 79 0.4

Romanian 72 0.3

Nepalese 58 0.3

Cantonese 57 0.3

Tamil 55 0.2

Scots 53 0.2

Portuguese 51 0.2

Yoruba 51 0.2


Pupils who reported having a language other than English as their main language at home were

unevenly distributed across the City, with some schools having a relatively high proportion of pupils

who used a language other than English at home, while in other schools the proportion was much

lower. At primary school level, the proportion of children who reported having English as their main

language at home ranged from a high of 97.5% (Culter School) to a low of 25.0% in St Peter’s RC

School. At secondary school level, the corresponding figures ranged from a high of 95.7% at Cults

Academy to a low of 72.4% at Torry Academy.

Table 3.5 shows the primary schools with the lowest proportion (below 70%) of pupils who were

recorded as having English as their main language at home. It also gives percentages for the top four

overall other languages used at home (Table 4.2 above). In most cases, the main ‘other’ language

was Polish, with the exception to this being Holy Family RC primary school were the most common

language other than English was Malayalam. As can be seen from the table, the two primary

schools with (by far) the lowest proportion of pupils whose main language at home is English are RC

primary schools. The table also shows the total number of languages (other than English) spoken by

pupils at each school, giving an indication of the diversity of ‘home’ languages used by pupils. Of the

20

schools in the Table, Sunnybank School has the highest number of ‘home’ languages with 25

different languages being used by pupils who attend this school.

Table 3.5: Primary Schools with the lowest proportion of pupils whose main language at home is English, Aberdeen City, 2015

Main language at home

School English Polish Russian Malayalam Arabic Total*

languages

% % % % % number

St Peter’s RC School 25.0 62.9 0.8 0.0 0.0 15

Holy Family RC Primary School 38.4 18.1 0.0 35.5 0.0 9

Sunnybank School 53.6 12.8 1.4 0.0 2.8 25

Hanover Street Primary School 54.9 18.1 2.0 0.0 1.0 23

Kittybrewster School 55.5 21.3 3.3 0.0 4.4 21

Seaton Primary School 56.2 22.9 4.3 0.0 0.5 16

Gilcomstoun Primary School 60.0 11.6 0.9 0.0 8.9 22

Riverbank School 66.1 20.2 3.1 0.0 0.0 16

Walker Road School 63.4 22.1 1.6 0.2 0.2 18


*Total number of languages spoken by pupils at home (excluding English)

Table 3.6 shows the secondary schools in Aberdeen City with the lowest proportion (below 80%) of

pupils whose main home language is English. It also gives percentages for the top four overall other

languages used at home (Table 4.2 above). In all cases, Polish was the next most common language

spoken at home. The table also shows the total number of ‘home’ languages spoken by pupils at

each school. So, while out of the four schools in the table Aberdeen Grammar School had the

highest proportion of English speakers, it also had the greatest diversity in terms of other languages

spoken by pupils who attend the school.

Table 4.4: Secondary Schools with the lowest proportion of pupils whose main language at home is English, Aberdeen City, 2015

Main language at home

School English Polish Russian Malayalam Arabic Total*

languages

% % % % % number

Torry Academy 72.4 15.6 1.9 0.0 0.6 16

Harlaw Academy 74.0 11.3 1.2 1.1 1.0 36

St Machar Academy 74.4 11.3 1.4 0.5 0.4 33

Aberdeen Grammar School 76.7 4.7 0.8 2.3 2.5 39


*Total number of languages spoken by pupils at home (excluding English)

Table 4.5 shows the numbers of pupils in all publicly funded schools in Aberdeen City whose main

language is not English, Gaelic, Scots, Doric or British Sign Language from 2010 to 2015. Over this

period numbers have increased by almost 60% from 2,422 in 2010 to 3,478 in 2015.

21

Table 4.5: Number of pupils whose main language is not English, Gaelic, Scots, Doric or British Sign Language, Aberdeen City, 2010 to 2015

Aberdeen City

2010 2,422

2011 2,596

2012 2,868

2013 3,215

2014 3,478

2015 3,872 Source: Pupil Census Supplementary Data 2010 to 2015, Main home language of pupils in publicly funded schools, available at:

http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/School-Education/dspupcensus

Summary and Conclusions

English is the main language spoken in Aberdeen City. Although most people in the city (98%) speak

English well or very well, Aberdeen City is also home to an extensive range of other languages with

12.1% of people in Aberdeen City using a language other than English, Scots, Gaelic or British Sign

Language at home. According to the 2011 Census, the most common language (other than English)

spoken at home in Aberdeen City was Polish. The high numbers of Polish speakers in 20-40 year age

range is consistent with recent economic migration patterns in Aberdeen City and Scotland.

Speakers of ‘Other’ languages were also predominately in the younger adult age groups – highest in

the 20-24 year group. As well as economic migrants/international workforce, this is likely to reflect

the number of international students studying in Aberdeen (almost a quarter of the population of

Old Aberdeen use a language other than English at home). While the use of Gaelic was relatively

limited, Gaelic skills were also more common in the young adult age groups and those with the

highest level of educational qualifications.

Users of languages other than English are unevenly distributed across the city. Some areas of the

Aberdeen City have relatively high concentrations (more than 20%) of people who did not use

English at home – in Tillydrone, for example, more than 30% of residents did not use English at

home. Similarly, some schools have relatively high proportions of pupils whose main home

language is not English. Identifying where other language users live can be useful in planning

specific resources and services which may be required for people whose first language is not English.

The increase in requests for translation services, particularly external requests which have almost

tripled since 2011/2012, together with the increase in the number of school pupils for whom English

was not the main home language, suggests that the number of non-English speakers has increased

since the time of the 2011 Census. It is likely that much of this increase will be due to ongoing

migration into the city. (Information on the inflow of migrant workers is available in a separate

briefing paper “Migrant workers in Aberdeen City and Shire”, available on

http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/tourism_visitor_attractions/tourists_visitors/statistics/stt_Home.asp.)

http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Browse/School-Education/dspupcensus

http://www.aberdeencity.gov.uk/tourism_visitor_attractions/tourists_visitors/statistics/stt_Home.asp

22

Appendix 1: Language used at home, people aged 3 years and over, Aberdeen City, Census 2011

Language used at home Number of people (aged

3 years and over)

Total 215,597

English only 184,335

Polish 6,263

Other UK language (including Scots) 4,770

French 1,417

All other Chinese 1,123

Russian 994

Spanish 988

German 928

Arabic 913

Malayalam 724

Yoruba 714

Sign Language 680

Lithuanian 656

Urdu 616

Bengali (with Sylheti and Chatgaya) 584

Hindi 552

Igbo 510

Cantonese Chinese 456

Dutch 436

Tamil 421

Latvian 390

Italian 381

Portuguese 351

Northern European Language (non-EU) 339

Malay 328

Hungarian 324

Any other Nigerian language 322

Nepalese 311

Persian/Farsi 292

Romanian 263

Thai 256

Tagalog/Filipino 253

All other languages 246

Czech 236

Punjabi 224

Telugu 217

Slovak 214

South Asian Language (all other unless included elsewhere) 188

Greek 181

Danish 178

Mandarin Chinese 168

Bulgarian 164

23

Turkish 143

Finnish 124

Marathi 122

Swedish 120

West/Central Asian Language (all other unless included elsewhere) (4)

118

Korean 103

Afrikaans 83

African language (all other unless included elsewhere) (13)

83

Gujarati 76

Shona 76

Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian (19)

66

Sinhala 65

Japanese 61

Akan 58

Pashto 46

Any other European Language (EU) (unless included elsewhere) (17)

46

Estonian 44

Vietnamese 42

Swahili/Kiswahili 39

Maltese 37

East Asian Language (all other unless included elsewhere) (9)

32

Hebrew 26

West African language (all other unless included elsewhere) (12)

25

Ukrainian 20

Amharic 15

Kurdish (2)

11

Albanian (18)

10 Source: Scotland’s Census, 2011, Available at: http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/documents/cde/CT_0116_2011.xlsx

*(Full information on what is included in each of the language categories can be found on the above link.)

http://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/documents/cde/CT_0116_2011.xlsx

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Documents

Languages spoken in Aberdeen City...Languages spoken in Aberdeen City This is one in a series of briefing papers that has been produced by the Research and Information team. It is