Romanian Language: GCSE

(asked on 21st June 2022) - View Source

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a GCSE qualification in the Romanian language.


Answered by
Robin Walker Portrait
Robin Walker
This question was answered on 27th June 2022

Deciding which languages are offered at GCSE is the responsibility of awarding organisations.

The government is committed to increasing the number of pupils studying languages to GCSE level and beyond, including languages that are commonly spoken in Britain. It is for this reason that teaching of languages is in the national curriculum from age 7 to 14, and why GCSEs in languages are included as part of the English Baccalaureate suite of subjects.

However, it is up to schools to decide which languages are taught as part of their curriculum, both at primary and secondary school, and the government does not specify which languages should be taught. When deciding which languages to offer, schools are likely to consider the needs of their local community.

Awarding organisations can offer a GCSE in any modern language, and this decision would be informed by matters such as the level of demand from schools, the proportion of the population in the UK speaking the language, and the availability of examiners. Thus, there is no reason in principle why a GCSE in Romanian could not be introduced, and the government would support any awarding organisation wishing to do so.

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