Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps she has taken to ensure that parents of deaf children have access to British Sign Language classes.

The department understands the great importance of British Sign Language (BSL) for bridging barriers to communication between hearing and deaf people. We also appreciate the vital need for families with deaf children to be able to access BSL courses, as early access to language is essential to help children learn and thrive.

Funding is available through the adult education budget (AEB) for qualifications in or focussing on BSL, up to and including Level 2. These qualifications include, for example, the Level 1 Award in BSL which allows learners to communicate in BSL on a range of topics that involve simple, everyday language use, thereby giving them the basic skills and confidence in production and reception of BSL. It will depend on an individual’s circumstances as to whether they are entitled to free provision or expected to meet part of the cost (through co-funding).

About 60% of the AEB has been devolved to Mayoral Combined Authorities and the Greater London Authority, who determine which provision to fund for learners who live in their areas. The Education and Skills Funding Agency provides the remaining funding for learners who live in non-devolved areas. Where community learning providers offer BSL courses, those providers are responsible for determining the course fees, including levels of fee remission.

For some BSL courses, Advanced Learner Loans (ALLs) are available, and parents can find more information about which qualifications are eligible on the GOV.UK website at: https://www.qualifications.education.gov.uk/Search. More general information about the provision of ALLs is available on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/advanced-learner-loan/.

For parents learning BSL on an AEB funded course, there is also additional support available. The AEB provides funding to colleges and providers to help adult learners overcome barriers preventing them from accessing learning. Providers have discretion to help learners meet costs such as transport, accommodation, books, equipment, and childcare. Learning support funding also helps colleges and training providers to meet the additional needs of learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and the costs of reasonable adjustments, as set out in the Equality Act 2010.