The British Deaf Association (BDA) welcomes today’s launch of a new official consultation
on the long-promised GCSE in British Sign Language (BSL),
and applauds the long-awaited progress toward recognition and equality in education.
“Let’s be clear, it’s a step in the right direction, but there is much further to go,”
signs Deaf CEO Rebecca Mansell. “ After a lengthy period of silence from
the authorities, we appreciate this development.”
The BDA statement comes in response to this week’s announcement that Ofqual has
launched a further ‘technical’ consultation on the British Sign Language (BSL) GCSE.
Whilst the GCSE’s content has already passed through a 2023 consultation led by
the Department for Education (DfE), this week’s initiative focuses on examination
and assessment procedures.
“Only last month in Parliament, during Sign Language Week (17-23 March),
MPs from the new All-Party Parliamentary Group on BSL quizzed the Minister for Disabled People,
Sir Stephen Timms MP, on the ongoing delay with the GCSE,” points out Mansell.
“Sir Stephen spoke of the government’s ‘ continuing commitment’ and of being
‘generally reassured about the progress that’s been made and the commitment to deliver’.”
The BDA remains concerned about the long delays in the development of the new BSL GCSE.
The previous government target for “first teaching” was September 2025,
and the BDA believes that this target will be missed by two years.
The reasons for this delay are unclear. Whilst the BDA has been expressing the
BSL community’s concerns about the GCSE project for many years,
it took Ofqual until this month to directly ask to meet the BDA – which is recognised
up to United Nations level as the UK’s representative organisation for the
signing Deaf community – for one-to-one talks.
“Almost everything has happened behind closed doors,” Mansell notes pointedly.
“And here we are, with even Ofqual acknowledging that an award promised
in 2018 will not actually result in anyone receiving a certificate until 2029 at the earliest!”
“BSL is a rich and complex language, different in many respects to the spoken
languages already studied at GCSE level. We appreciate DfE’s and Ofqual’s diligent