Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she has taken to encourage exam boards to offer the British Sign Language GCSE.

The government, working with the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual), has developed the content and assessment arrangements for a new British Sign Language (BSL) GCSE.

Now that Ofqual’s final qualification rules have been published, exam boards are able to develop detailed specifications which will form the basis of course content to be taught in schools and colleges.

Decisions on whether to develop qualification specifications are for exam boards, and any specifications developed by exam boards will need to be accredited by Ofqual before they are available to schools.

I have written to the exam boards to encourage them to seize the opportunity to offer this important qualification.