Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has had recent discussions with OCR on progress towards introducing a Natural History GCSE; and whether she plans to launch a consultation for the specification for the qualification.

Last year, the Department announced the introduction of a new natural history GCSE. The Department is committed to developing the GCSE as quickly as possible, provided that it meets the rigorous requirements that apply to all GCSEs. The Department is working closely with the Oxford, Cambridge and RSA Examinations (OCR), other exam boards and independent experts to develop draft subject content for the GCSE.

The Department aims to consult publicly on the draft subject content later this year. Any amendments to subject content will then be made considering responses to the public consultation before the subject content is finalised.