Rebecca A Withey: Deaf BSL users should be at the forefront of the development of the BSL GCSE (BSL)

Like most of the deaf community, I am extremely excited by the prospect of there being a GCSE in British Sign Language (BSL) from September 2025. The development of this is partly down to deaf teenager Daniel Jillings who has been passionately campaigning for this since he was 12 years old.

In the BSL GCSE students will be taught 1,000 signs and will be educated on how best to use these signs in a variety of settings. Doing so will certainly allow students to enjoy the beauty and uniqueness of the language and I hope it will give pupils a general understanding of issues relating to deafness and culture.

I have personally seen many hearing friends state how they wished they could have learnt BSL in school, instead of the more commonly taught French or German, and it is really encouraging that this will now be an option for younger generations.

We do have to bear in mind that this GCSE in BSL will not be part of the National Curriculum, instead it will be an optional GCSE for schools who choose to deliver it. So there may be cases of certain schools choosing not to and disappointed pupils may not be given the chance to learn BSL.

That said, I feel positive that we are moving in the right direction. The more exposure we can give BSL the better and by offering teenagers the chance to take a BSL GCSE, we are widening not only their language skills but their employment options too.

I remember once how a hearing peer at University was so nervous to work with me on a group task because the sign language I used seemed so alien to her. This is not uncommon. Many hearing people freeze in fear if they see a deaf person signing as they don’t have the vocabulary to sign back.

Just knowing a few signs or even just the alphabet allows a person to converse simply and feel more confident to strike up a conversation with a deaf person or offer help if it is needed.

It’s similar to how I have retained a little knowledge of French due to the GCSE I took at school. My memory of French can come in useful at times! Visiting France in the past I’ve been able to read road signs, texts from menus and converse basically with other French people without demanding that they use my language – English. Instead I can appreciate their language and their culture.

Ultimately, I think any opportunity for a non-signer to learn BSL is a very positive thing and we should embrace it. I have yet to meet a person who learned BSL and regretted it! The regret always seems to be that they wished they knew more or learned it earlier…!

That said, I am a little nervous about how this is all going to pan out. I have many questions – like I’m sure others do too. Who will be teaching these BSL GCSE’s? Will teaching roles be given to deaf tutors? Will there be enough funds for interpreters and Communication Support Workers to support deaf tutors delivering the course?

Or will it be cheaper – and therefore easier – for schools to employ only hearing tutors – much to the deaf community’s outrage?

I understand that some people don’t understand why it seems so morally wrong for a hearing person to teach BSL. After all, my French teacher at school certainly wasn’t French. She was from Birmingham if I remember correctly…!

But for a community who have had their language oppressed for many – many years, BSL is a precious language that we are understandably protective of. It seems incredibly ironic, that whilst in the past the deaf community have had to fight just to use sign language we now live in an age where our battle is to protect its usage.

So when hearing online influencers teach pidgin sign language with no clear connection to BSL or the deaf community, it’s like a smack in the face to the fierce deaf campaigners in history that have had to fight for the simple right to sign. The very people that banned us from using sign language now want to profit from it.

We do have a wealth of deaf BSL tutors in the UK and I hope this development will urge more deaf people to complete their training in BSL teaching too. Learning BSL from a deaf person who uses it as their first language is undeniably the best way to learn. Yet, just how feasible this is logistic wise is still unclear.

What is clear, however, is that BSL using deaf people must be at the forefront of all discussions relating to the development of the GCSE. I was recently shocked to see two oral deaf people being interviewed on BBC Breakfast about this, especially as neither one of them signed on the show and one had also previously spoken out about not using BSL anymore because they preferred the oral method.

Being a faithful advocate for BSL means you use the language constantly – especially if you’re in the media spotlight. Being a BSL user and advocate for the language is not something you pick and choose.

This media incident clearly shows the prevalence of ignorance in our society. Mainstream media has a tendency to throw all deaf people in the same boat. The fact of the matter is, all deaf people are different.

Some deaf people sign, some don’t, some do both. Whatever works for you – great, keep doing it! But when discussing the BSL GCSE, we need to shine a spotlight on native deaf BSL users who can skillfully and valuably contribute to this development.

It should be people like Daniel Jillings that the government, media and educators should be working alongside. Daniel has worked so hard to initiate change and create new waves for future generations – and it is pioneers like him that should be in the spotlight and devising and delivering the course.

I shall await further news of the BSL GCSE and report back with my thoughts in due course. You can read about it and contribute your thoughts to the development of the GCSE here.

Rebecca Anne Withey is a freelance writer with a background in Performing Arts & Holistic health. She is also profoundly deaf, a sign language user and pretty great lipreader. She writes on varied topics close to her heart in the hope that they may serve to inspire others.