ASCL response to DfE announcement of new natural history GCSE

Commenting on the Department for Education’s announcement that it will introduce a new GCSE in natural history and launch a Climate Change and Sustainability Strategy, Julie McCulloch, Director of Policy at the Association of School and College Leaders, said:

“We are pleased to see the Education Secretary deliver on one of the first pledges he made when he took office by putting climate change and sustainability at the top of his educational agenda.

“We feel sure that the new natural history GCSE will prove popular when it becomes an option for students in 2025 and provide an educational focal point for the significant interest in the environment that many young people already have.

“This new GCSE, alongside the launch of the government’s Climate Change and Sustainability Strategy, will hopefully become the building blocks towards a suite of environmentally-based courses and qualifications available to young people in the future at both GCSE and A-level.”