Last week, we had some disappointing news about the made-for-Wales BSL GCSE, which was planned for launch in 2027.
The Welsh Government and Qualifications Wales have suspended their work on the GCSE because of “practical challenges”. This means, despite many promises, there will be no BSL GCSE in Wales.
A BSL GCSE would help strengthen the status of the language, putting it on the same level as English and Welsh. It would also help encourage deaf awareness in our schools and give learners a greater understanding of deaf culture and deaf history. We know the real benefit it could bring, so this is a huge blow.
Lindsay Foster, Executive Director at Signature said: “It’s disappointing that after so much work this difficult decision has been made. We will be sharing with Qualification Wales our research on the demand for a GCSE in BSL, as well as the evidence of sufficient teaching supply in Wales for launch, which has been developed as part of the GCSE Coalition group work.
I have spoken with hundreds of schools and teachers, across Wales, at the National Education Show in Llandudno, who expressed an interest in delivering this as part of their language options. We will continue to push for this to make this a possibility for them.”
Next steps
We’ll do everything we can to encourage the Welsh Government to change its mind.
Together with NDCS, we’ve written to ministers to outline our concerns and to ask them to meet with us so we can understand more about their decision. We believe we can help them to overcome the challenges they describe.
