Statement on workforce planning for BSL GCSE and Qualified Teachers of Deaf Children and Young People (QToDs)
British Association of Teachers of Deaf Children and Young People (BATOD) is aware of recent article regarding workforce planning for the future British Sign Language (BSL) GCSE. We would like to clarify that two distinct workforce issues are sometimes discussed alongside one another and should be considered separately.
The first issue concerns the recruitment, training and retention of Qualified Teachers of Deaf Children and Young People (QToDs). QToDs are qualified teachers who hold, or are working towards, the mandatory qualification in deaf education and provide specialist educational support to babies, children and young people following identification of deafness. BATOD remains concerned about the continuing shortage of qualified ToDs across the UK. QToDs play a vital role in supporting deaf children and young people to access learning, develop language and communication, and achieve positive educational outcomes. Workforce challenges relating to recruitment, training and retention have been recognised for a number of years and continue to be a significant issue for the specialist deaf education sector. Further information about the QToD workforce can be found through BATOD’s research and reports, and through the National Deaf Children’s Society (NDCS)’s research and policy work on specialist support for deaf children.
The second issue concerns the workforce required to deliver a future BSL GCSE qualification. This relates to the availability of suitably qualified teachers with the linguistic competence, cultural knowledge and subject expertise required to teach BSL as an accredited language qualification. The qualifications, training pathways and professional expertise associated with teaching BSL GCSE are distinct from those associated with the QToD role.
BATOD’s position on this matter was set out previously in the joint stakeholder statement, Training to be a BSL GCSE teacher – joint stakeholder response, published on the BATOD website in January 2024 and developed in collaboration with NDCS, BDA, Signature and ABSLEP. The statement can be found here: Training to be a BSL GCSE teacher – joint stakeholder response.
That joint statement recognised the need to develop a dedicated workforce capable of delivering BSL GCSE and highlighted the importance of Deaf teachers within that workforce. It also acknowledged the specific workforce planning challenges associated with implementing a new qualification in BSL.
While both discussions relate to deafness and education, we believe it is important that a clear distinction is maintained between:
- the specialist QToD workforce required to support deaf children and young people; and
- the workforce required to teach BSL as a GCSE subject.
We look forward to seeing solutions emerge for both issues through continued partnership between the deaf community, sector organisations and Government. By recognising these as separate workforce challenges, it will be possible to develop targeted approaches that strengthen specialist support for deaf children and young people whilst also enabling the successful delivery of BSL GCSE in schools.
