Ofqual has today published its second consultation on the proposed British Sign Language (BSL) GCSE, a key technical stage in the development of the qualification. The consultation examines the detailed regulatory requirements that will inform the final design, assessment, and delivery of the GCSE.

This announcement marks another milestone on the journey towards introducing a BSL GCSE. This follows an earlier public consultation (https://www.signature.org.uk/ofqual-gcse-in-british-sign-language-consultation-feedback) and a collaborative development process between Ofqual, including its subject experts, and Signature – the UK’s leading awarding organisation for BSL qualifications.

The consultation will seek views on the rules that all exam boards will need to follow. This includes guidance on assessment methods, standards, and accessibility to ensure the qualification is robust and inclusive for all learners.

Lindsay Foster, Executive Director at Signature said: "We are pleased to see Ofqual progressing with this second technical consultation, this is a crucial step forward in making the BSL GCSE a reality. We are encouraged by the careful consideration offered to the unique assessment challenges BSL brings. It reflects the growing recognition of British Sign Language as a vital and valuable subject for young people across the UK."

"This isn’t just about a new subject, it’s about allowing young people the opportunity to learn the language of the Deaf community, improving communication between Deaf and hearing people, and opening up future career and learning opportunities for all young people."

John Walker, Chair of Signature said: “We welcome Ofqual's latest consultation on assessment rules for the new BSL GCSE. Signature have been working and campaigning on this for over 15 years, this is another positive step towards achieving our goal as a charity.”

“It is important that we get this stage right and I am pleased that we have been involved in helping Ofqual understand how a BSL GCSE could work. I look forward to young people being able to learn the language I sign everyday, British Sign Language, as part of their GCSEs in the future.

Simon Want, Head of Policy and Influencing (England) at the National Deaf Children’s Society, said: “After several delays and a long wait for this consultation, we’re encouraged that progress is finally being made on the development of a BSL GCSE in England. This consultation is an important acknowledgement of the importance of BSL. We hope it proves to be a key milestone towards ensuring the BSL GCSE is delivered for future generations to study.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors

For further information or to arrange an interview please contact Matthew Ford, Marketing Director at Signature on 07825 077 913 / Matthew.ford@signature.org.uk

Signature

Signature is the leading awarding body for deaf communication and language qualifications in the UK.

Since beginning their work to promote and teach British Sign Language (BSL), they have supported more than 600,000 people to gain a qualification in the language. They have also been campaigning since 2010 for a GCSE in British Sign Language, including running a pilot in 2015 with 6 schools across the country.

Signature create qualifications that provide learners with the skills they need to build successful careers. While as a charitable organisation, they work tirelessly to improve communication, by creating learning opportunities for every stage of life.

The National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS)

• The National Deaf Children’s Society is the leading charity dedicated to creating a world without barriers for deaf children and their families.

• Three babies are born deaf in the UK every day.

• There are more than 50,000 deaf children in the UK. We help them thrive by providing impartial, practical and emotional support, and by challenging governments and society to meet their needs.

• For more information on our work please, visit www.ndcs.org.uk.

• For further support, parents, deaf children and deaf young people can contact us via our Helpline on 0808 800 8880 (voice and text), on SignVideo (signvideo.co.uk), by email on helpline@ndcs.org.uk or through online chat at www.ndcs.org.uk/livechat.

What is British Sign Language?

British Sign Language is a visual means of communicating using gestures, facial expression and body language with its own vocabulary, grammar and syntax. It is not dependent upon or related to English and is used mainly by people who are Deaf or to support those who have a hearing loss.

Similarly, to spoken language, there are regional variations. For example, the sign for ‘holiday’ which has around 10 -12 sign variations is dependent upon the area of the UK that you are in.

British Sign Language is a real, full and living language that is part of a rich cultural heritage and one of the UK’s indigenous languages.

BSL GCSE Timeline

Signature began campaigning for a GCSE in British Sign Language in 2010 and in 2015 ran a successful pilot with 6 schools across the UK to explore how a GCSE could work in a secondary school environment. Despite setbacks, Signature continued to utilise their own resources to step up the fight to make the GCSE a reality and continued to work on this.

In 2017, The National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS) launched their Young People’s Advisory Board (YAB) launch ‘Right to Sign’, a campaign to convince the Government to introduce a GCSE in British Sign Language (BSL) in schools.

In 2018 a member of YAB, Daniel Jilling’s started a crowdfunding campaign to cover the legal costs of challenging the Government’s delay on introducing a GCSE in BSL. This along with the technical work carried out by Signature, helped the government to U-Turn on their decision not to introduce a new GCSE within this parliament and work then began.

In 2019, Signature presented a proposal to the Department for Education (DfE) and Ofqual, who on the back of that announced that after receiving a proposal from Signature, that they would begin the complex process of developing subject content to see if a GCSE qualification is possible.

In June 2023, The Department for Education and Ofqual released their consultation documents on the subject content and proposed assessment arrangements, in December the same year shared their feedback.

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