Ukrainian GCSE to be taught in schools from September 2028
The exam board AQA is developing the qualification with the Department for Education. It will be open to any pupil in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, with the first exams in 2029.
Pupils in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will be able to take a GCSE in Ukrainian, with schools able to start teaching it from September 2028 and the first exams expected in 2029, the Department for Education announced on Wednesday.
AQA, the independent education charity and exam board, is developing the course with the department. The next stage brings together language and subject experts to write it.
Like other modern foreign language GCSEs, it will test four skills: listening, speaking, reading and writing. It will also cover the cultural and historical context of the language.
British schools took in thousands of Ukrainian children after Russia's full-scale invasion, and the GCSE is aimed in particular at helping Ukrainian pupils in the UK keep up their home language and their connection to its culture through the normal school system. The department also presents it as a route into further study and work for any pupil who takes it.
The announcement links the new GCSE to the UK-Ukraine 100-Year Partnership and to the UK-Ukraine Schools Partnership, which now includes more than 300 schools across the two countries.
Separately, the department is preparing a consultation on a revised school curriculum, which it says will include changes to how languages are taught.
