GCSE BSL Technical Consultation

Overview

Proposals at a glance

Ofqual is consulting on the detailed rules that an exam board would need to follow when designing a GCSE qualification in BSL. This consultation explains and seeks views on a range of requirements that cover:

• The language and accessibility of the assessments
• Vocabulary and grammar
• Prohibiting access to dictionaries
• The use of stimulus materials
• The assessment objectives (wording and guidance)
• Forms of non-exam assessment (the structure, composition and conduct of the non-exam assessments)

It also seeks views on the specific wording of the draft subject level conditions, requirements and guidance.

This is Ofqual’s second consultation on arrangements for the assessment of GCSEs in BSL. Interested parties might wish to view the previous consultation, as well as the Department for Education (DfE) consultation and published subject content, to put these proposals in context. These can be viewed here:

• DfE’s consultation on the subject content
• DfE’s published subject content
• Ofqual’s first consultation on the assessment arrangements

Terminology 

This consultation refers to the following concepts:

• ‘Receptive language skills’, which means students’ ability to comprehend BSL produced by others
• ‘Productive language skills’, which means students’ ability to produce BSL themselves
• ‘Interactive language skills’, which means students’ ability to interact and have conversations with other signers using BSL (while comprehending and producing BSL)
• ‘Technical accuracy when producing BSL’, which means students’ ability to articulate signs accurately and construct clearly articulated and grammatically correct BSL sentences

Audience

This consultation is open to anyone who wishes to make representation but may be of most interest to:

• the deaf community
• stakeholder representative organisations or unions
• students, including private candidates, who might be interested in taking the new qualification, and their parents and carers
• potential teachers, private tutors and home-educators of the new qualification
• school and college leaders and heads of other types of exam centres
• exams officers
• exam boards and awarding organisations
• those who use qualifications to make selection decisions: higher education institutions and employers

Consultation arrangements

Duration

This consultation will be open for 8 weeks starting on 30 April 2025 and ending on 25 June 2025 at 23:59.

Respond

Please respond to this consultation by completing the online survey using the link below. The online survey presents the information and questions in English and BSL. Responses to the online survey must be given onscreen and in writing. Responses can be provided in BSL by sending Ofqual a video (or videos) of your BSL responses to the consultation.

To share your BSL responses or ask for more information on how to do this, please email bslconsultation@ofqual.gov.uk. Please include the consultation title in the subject line of the email and let us know in what capacity you are responding.

Ofqual has engaged with BSL users to inform how this consultation has been presented to make it as accessible as possible for BSL users. If you need support to access the survey, please email bslconsultation@ofqual.gov.uk