England to Offer a Ukrainian GCSE From 2028 as UK Apologises
Pupils who fled Ukraine will be able to sit a GCSE in their own language in England from 2028. The government has also apologised for years in which some of them were told to take Russian instead.
An apology from the schools minister
Schools minister Georgia Gould made the announcement during a visit to St Mary's school in west London. St Mary's anchors a group of 13 schools across the country that teach in Ukrainian.
She said: "So many students were pushed into having to do Russian. I'm really sorry that they were put in that position."
Ukrainian children arrived after Russia's invasion in 2022. Some say it was offensive that teachers raised Russian as an option because no Ukrainian GCSE existed.
How the qualification will be built
The exam board AQA is developing the course. It will be ready in England in 2028, backed by a £340,000 grant from the Department for Education.
Gould said the board had been nervous about creating a qualification for a fairly small group of students. She said the government wanted to put money behind it regardless, and thanked AQA for coming forward.
The decision follows a long campaign by Kyiv and Ukrainian community groups. More than 30,000 Ukrainian children have fled to the UK. In a 2024 letter to the DfE, Kyiv's education ministry said many pupils were being pressured by school staff to pass the Russian GCSE.
Ukraine's education minister, Andrii Butenko, welcomed the news. He said the exam would give these children an equal chance to choose their native language, and promised continued work with AQA and the DfE.
What the students said
Vitalii Andronik, 20, was urged at 15 to study Russian GCSE. He said the change came too late for him but he wants future generations of refugees to study Ukrainian. He called it a recognition of the trauma his generation went through.
Sofiia Chonka, 16, left Zakarpattia for London in June 2024. She was told in year 9 to study Russian and refused. She has now started A-levels and says she plans to take the new exam once it is available.
Inna Hryhorovych, head of St Mary's Trust, has campaigned for a Ukrainian GCSE since 2014. Her next target is an A-level in the language.
A dozen Ukrainian pupils greeted the news with applause and a chorus of "diakuyemo", the Ukrainian for thank you.
Our view
The 2028 start leaves a wait for pupils who need the subject now. Whether an A-level follows is unclear: Gould said only that the government is doing GCSEs for now and wants to see how it goes. Uptake, including among British pupils whom she encouraged to try it, will be the first real test.
Source: the Guardian