We are Jodie Bailey-Ho and Will Wale, DfE Sustainability Youth Focal Points, and we were delighted with the news in March 2025 that the Natural History GCSE will be moving forward.

This qualification will provide students with a rigorous knowledge of the natural world, practical monitoring and observation skills, data analysis and fieldwork, which critically will be able to be done in urban settings.

After five years in development, it is fantastic that the Department for Education has committed to this new qualification. The DfE Sustainability and Climate Change Strategy explicitly references the introduction of the Natural History GCSE, and although they will not meet their 2025 deadline, we are pleased to see the confirmed implementation of another key part of the strategy.

Jodie sat on the advisory board during the development stage, and it particularly pleased to see this input from the youth members will have a tangible impact on implementation in schools.

We wrote to Minister McKinnell to express how pleased we were about the announcement, and were very happy to receive a letter back with more details on the development of subject content following the conclusion of the Curriculum and Assessment Review. We hope that the outcomes of the Review will boost solutions-focused integration of sustainability within the wider curriculum and improve access to nature in all schools.

Since the announcement, we have arranged a meeting with Andy Wright, who will be leading on the new GCSE. An experienced school leader and curriculum developer, Andy is very passionate about the subject content and key skills that will be taught through this qualification.

Andy talked about his focus on making sure that young people and schools know about the Natural History GCSE, on providing support and training for teachers, on making sure that the career and skills pathways are clear, and on ensuring that the fieldwork element is accessible to all pupils.

Jodie and Will have challenged Andy and the wider team to make sure that young people's voices are present within every stage of final development, implementation and evaluation. They will be meeting again in a few weeks to explore the progress made.

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