After becoming the first deaf contestant on Love Island, the model Tasha Ghouri urged others to learn sign language, saying people often felt uncomfortable trying to talk to those who are deaf or hearing impaired “because they don’t know how to communicate”.
For a generation of young people in England, that could be about to change, as the government today introduces the first ever GCSE in British Sign Language (BSL) in an attempt to boost inclusivity in schools and give would-be signers useful life skills.
The earliest that new students will be able to start studying for a GSCE in BSL, which will also teach the history of the language in the UK, will be September 2025, by which time the exam board syllabuses are expected to be approved.
It comes after more than a decade of campaigning, backed by celebrities such as Ghouri, who has been deaf from birth and wears a cochlear implant in her right ear, and Rose Ayling-Ellis, the stage and TV actor who won Strictly Come Dancing in 2021.
Ayling-Ellis, best known for playing the role of Frankie Lewis in EastEnders, said she had had to overcome “countless barriers” because she was deaf. She has called for sign language lessons to be free for those who need them, saying it was a “shame” parents and guardians had to pay to learn to communicate with their deaf children.
Daniel Jillings, a young deaf campaigner, played a key role in the campaign, fighting for the right to study a GCSE in BSL. In 2018, at the age of 12, he started a crowd justice campaign, saying: “My first language is BSL and I want the chance to do this as a GCSE subject when I take my other exams. Delaying a GCSE is unfair to children who are deaf.”
Susan Daniels, chief executive of the National Deaf Children’s Society, said Jillings and other campaigners had done “an incredible amount of work” to bring BSL into schools. “A GCSE in BSL is vital as it will break down barriers and celebrate the rich culture and history of British Sign Language,” she said.
Giving schools the resources to teach BSL is likely to be a challenge. Signature, the leading awarding body for deaf communication and language qualifications in the UK, has about 1,220 teachers registered, but said it did not yet know what level of qualification would be required to teach the GSCE. There are about 3,500 secondary schools in England.
“There are a lot of challenges to overcome, but everyone is working hard to make sure the GCSE in BSL is the success we all want it to be,” said Matthew Ford, a spokesperson for Signature.
Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, welcomed the boost to inclusivity in schools, but said the government had to recognise practical constraints “because schools are under tremendous pressure in terms of staffing, finances and time”, and called for more investment.
Keegan said learning sign language would help pupils to develop expression and negotiation through visual spatial language, communication and visual memory skills, which would benefit them throughout their lives. “Studying British Sign Language can open so many doors for young people, giving pupils an understanding of how thousands of people communicate and ultimately even expanding job prospects,” she said.
About 12 million adults in the UK are deaf or have hearing loss. According to the National Deaf Children’s Society, about 151,000 people in the UK can use BSL, and it is the first or preferred language for about 87,000 deaf people. A survey of deaf and hearing young people by the organisation found more than 90% wanted BSL taught in schools.
The classes will be a lot of fun, said Ghouri: “It’s such a beautiful language to learn.”
