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Natural History GCSE set to be taught in schools in 2022, BBC broadcaster reveals

Mary Colwell said if all goes to plan it will be on the curriculum by 2022
Mary Colwell said if all goes to plan it will be on the curriculum by 2022

A Natural History GCSE course is set to be on the curriculum by 2022, a BBC broadcaster has said.

Mary Colwell, a producer and writer who specialises in nature, has been working with Green Party politician Caroline Lucas to get the qualification approved.

After talks with the Department for Education and Defra, the qualification has been approved for consultation, and if all goes to plan it will be on the curriculum in two years' time.

The proposed qualification will aim to offer young people the opportunity to engage with nature, as well as give environmental issues more prominence in the curriculum. It will be presented by the exam board OCR.

Teachers will be able to work with nature experts and the Natural History museum to teach children about the outside world.

Ms Colwell told the blog run by former RSPB chief Mark Avery she has been working on the "the hard graft of producing the required Aims, Assessment Model and Criteria for the GCSE".

She said she had to convince civil servants and ministers that "natural history is not biology, that there is a gap in the curriculum, that it is a subject that brings together so many skills – as well as gets young people outside".

The nature expert announced: "Next week we launch the final lap – the consultation phase – to ask the wider community for their ideas and contributions to make it as robust as possible, but also to ensure it is an inspiration and a joy to study.  If all goes well and this final stage is successful, a GCSE in Natural History will be in schools for September 2022."

A Department for Education spokesperson said that they could not confirm a time schedule, but that they will consider the proposal once it goes through the consultation.

OCR Chief Executive Jill Duffy said: “We think there's a gap in the curriculum that isn't encouraging a connection with the natural world, and at the same time, we know that young people are very much engaged in the debate on the environment and they understand what their role should be and could be in protecting for the future.

“We know that they want to get engaged, but we also know that they feel at the moment that they don't have enough knowledge or understanding to help them engage effectively.”