While Ofqual has published its official guidance for the design of a new British Sign Language GCSE, it seems no awarding body is so far willing to take it on.
AQA the country biggest exam board, confirmed last week that it would not be offering the GCSE, and others are thought to be still considering it.
The BSL examination had been welcome as key milestone for deaf children, that would raise the profile of BSL and hearing impairment.
But it has suffered a number of setbacks, with a date for launch now pushed back by at least five years from the original schedule.
Only four examination boards can award GCSEs in England, which leaves OCR, Pearson and WJEC Eduqas in the running.
Other ways of supporting BSL users?
If any awarding body were to develop a GCSE in BSL, it would have to go through Ofqual’s accreditation process before being rolled out.
An AQA spokesperson said it “strongly supports attempts to make the education and assessment system more inclusive and representative of the students it serves” and “recognise[s] the challenges faced by deaf students”.
But added: “At this time, we have decided not to create an AQA specification for a GCSE in British Sign Language.
“We are exploring other ways in which we can support BSL users to access existing qualifications, to enable them to better demonstrate their knowledge, understanding and skills across the curriculum.”
WJEC said it was not currently developing a BSL GCSE, but “will be reviewing this decision” as part of its response to the government’s curriculum and assessment review.
Cambridge OCR told Schools Week a decision is yet to be made, and Pearson said it would be consider it after reviewing Ofqual’s rules.
A key milestone
The British Deaf Association (BDA) estimates 151,000 people in the UK use BSL, 87,000 of whom are deaf.
George Crockford, chief executive the National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS), welcomed the Ofqual rules as a “landmark” for young deaf campaigners who “have fought so hard for the right to study a GCSE in BSL”.
He described it as “a key milestone in creating a world where anything is possible for deaf children.”
Lindsay Foster, executive director of charity Signature, said BSL “does not neatly fit into the traditional GCSE or MFL [modern foreign languages] assessment criteria boxes and will require some innovative thinking for the organisations who want to develop it
“Ofqual will also need to continue to engage constructively around any more creative solutions to these challenges. BSL is a visual language that cannot be compared to or classified as an MFL.”
