Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, for what reasons his Department will not introduce a GCSE in British Sign Language until September 2025.

The department is committed to developing the new British Sign Language (BSL) GCSE as quickly as we can, while also ensuring it can be completed to the highest standard. We are working closely with subject experts, stakeholders and Ofqual, the independent qualifications regulator, to develop the draft subject content for the BSL GCSE. The department plans to consult publicly on this draft content later this year. We will then make any necessary amendments in light of the consultation responses and finalise the high-level subject content next Spring.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, work to support the management of and recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, including to ensure pupils could access the qualifications they needed to progress, was prioritised. This meant that the development of this GCSE was delayed. However, once the pressures of the COVID-19 pandemic eased, we resumed work to develop the new BSL GCSE.

The development and introduction of a new GCSE is a complex process. It typically takes over two years from the publication of the department’s high level subject content to the first teaching of a new qualification.