Department for Education confirms launch of natural history GCSE
Teenagers may be able to learn about the importance of newts, bats and jumping spiders after the government announced the introduction of a GCSE in natural history.
The qualification had been campaigned for by nature lovers for more than a decade, but despite a curriculum being drawn up, the measure had stalled.
Announcing the new GCSE in parliament, the education minister Catherine McKinnell said it would equip young people “to understand and respect the natural world and contribute to the protection and conservation of the environment locally, nationally and internationally”.
Mary Colwell, a naturalist and author who began campaigning for a natural history GCSE in 2011, said she was “delighted” Labour had committed to this “hugely good news”.
