To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to introduce British Sign Language into the curriculum in England as a GCSE subject; and if so, when.
Answered on
8 March 2019
The Department for Education and Ofqual, the independent qualifications regulator, have received a proposal for a British Sign Language (BSL) GCSE from the exam board Signature.
All GCSEs need to meet certain subject content and assessment requirements. The department is now developing draft BSL GCSE subject content, which will be considered against the subject content criteria requirements that apply to all GCSEs. If these expectations are met and a BSL GCSE is ready to be introduced, the department will then consider whether to make an exception to our general rule that there should be no new GCSEs in this Parliament. It is too early to say how long this process might take.