The Assessment of Achievement Programme (AAP) was established by the Scottish Office Education and Industry Department in 1981 to monitor the performance of pupils in Scottish schools in particular areas of the curriculum. From 1983, regular surveys were undertaken in three core curricular areas: English language, Maths and Science. Following a pilot AAP survey in 1998, the first AAP survey of pupils’ attainment in modern languages was conducted in 2001 by modern languages specialists at the University of Stirling in collaboration with statisticians from the Scottish Council for Research in Education (SCRE). The survey targeted students of French or German in P7 (final year of primary school) and S2 (second year of secondary school). Over 150 schools and 2000 pupils participated in the survey.