To ask the Minister of Education (i) to provide an update on the Sign Language GCSE being tested by Signature in England; (ii) whether testing has completed; and (iii) whether he is committed to adding the Sign Language GCSE as a choice for Northern Ireland students.

The Department for Education (England) is developing content for a potential British Sign Language (BSL) GCSE and proposes to consult on this later this year. As Northern Ireland operates an open qualifications market, if this process leads to accreditation of a qualification by Ofqual, it would then be available for delivery by examination centres in Northern Ireland, once it goes through the standard qualification approval process.

There are several stages to go through before a qualification becomes accredited for use by learners and the GCSE currently being developed is in the early stages. At this point, it is not possible to provide a timescale for when the rollout of this qualification will take place.