Made-for-Wales British Sign Language GCSE

We’re devastated that work on the made-for-Wales BSL GCSE has been suspended because of practical challenges. We're working with Qualifications Wales to overcome the challenges which led to the suspension, alongside Signature, the leading UK awarding organisation for BSL qualifications.

Why we’re campaigning

We believe a BSL GCSE would strengthen the status of the language, putting it on the same level as English and Welsh. It would also promote deaf awareness in our schools, raise the profile of British Sign Language and of deafness, and give learners a greater understanding of deaf culture and deaf history. 

The campaign so far

Together with Signature, we’ve written to the Welsh Government to outline our concerns and to ask to meet with them so we can better understand their decision. 

In a letter written by the Welsh Government in response (Gov.Wales), it says stakeholders have identified challenges that have yet to be addressed. These include the lack of an official online BSL dictionary in Wales, and a concern that there are not enough teachers to successfully deliver the GCSE. 

• Document

  National Deaf Children's Society and Signature letter to ministers.pdf (127.57 KB)
• Watch a BSL translation of the letter (YouTube)
• Document

  lawrlwythwych ein llythyr at weinidogion.pdf (81.65 KB)

Our thoughts on the Welsh Government’s response

We’re confident that Signature’s data shows there are enough teachers to deliver a BSL GCSE. And as demand for the qualification grows, we expect that the supply of teachers will increase organically. 

The Welsh Government has also said that students will have the opportunity to learn BSL as part of a new Skills Suite qualification. While we welcome this news, the course will not have the same depth of learning or teaching hours as a GCSE, and there will not be a pathway for students to further develop their skills.  

Next steps

Working with Signature we’ll keep the pressure on Qualifications Wales and the Welsh Government to encourage them to reverse their decision. 

We believe the challenges described by Qualifications Wales can be overcome. Alongside Signature, we’ll: 

• work with language experts in Wales to understand the need for creating a BSL repository (dictionary) for Wales
• establish pathways to upskill the existing 1st Language Signature workforce who do not hold a BSL qualification
• support teacher training providers to provide appropriate courses for people who wish to achieve Qualified Teaching Status (QTS) to teach BSL