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Petition · past parliament · Department for Education

Make British Sign Language a language option in the national curriculum

Closed 324 signatures

What the petition asks

I would like the national curriculum to make British Sign Language an option for students to study at school. The standard Spanish, French or German are quite limited in a society that should be inclusive of all languages whether that be spoken or signed.
There are almost 9 million hearing impaired people in the UK alone, and it is reported there are approximately 140k people that use BSL as a first language. I believe giving students the option to learn BSL can improve our society by allowing us the option to communicate with people regardless of their impediments. This eventually could benefit in many ways for those who have no choice but to use BSL. If more people could sign, it could open more job options etc.

Timeline

9 Apr 2021 Petition opened for signatures
9 Oct 2021 Closed to new signatures

Key facts

Signatures 324
Status Closed
Department Department for Education
Opened 9 Apr 2021
Closed 9 Oct 2021

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.