New GCSE planned to fill the nature gap

SCHOOLCHILDREN need to be taught a natural history GCSE to bridge the “gulf” between their concerns for the environment and their lack of knowledge about nature, ministers have heard.

Conservative MP for Eastbourne Caroline Ansell told MPs: “Our young people today are caught up in an unhappy paradox whilst their concern for the natural world is greater than ever before, their access to nature to discover its magic and marvel at its wonder is much reduced.”

In the Westminster Hall debate, she cited a study by the University of Bath which found that three-quarters of young people in the UK are worried about the future of the planet.

However, at the same time, many young people can no longer identify common wildlife, with one study finding that 83% of five to 16-year-olds “could not identify a bumblebee”.

Ms Ansell added: “It is this gulf then between the knowledge and experience of the natural world required to protect it on one hand and the growing concern about ecological decline on the other which a new natural history qualification could help to close.”

A proposed natural history GCSE would be a “brilliant springboard” for future learning at A-level and degree, Ms Ansell told debate.

She said the course had been “deliberately designed” for both urban and rural areas, adding: “Introducing a natural history GCSE is feasible for schools and could be widely accessible for students from all backgrounds and in all parts of the country.

“It would be part of the jigsaw to arrest the shifting baselines phenomenon by highlighting change to our natural environment over time and the potential for restoration in the future.”

She added that the “mix of subject areas” in the GCSE could “bring such powerful learning”, with existing geography and biology teachers likely to have the expertise to teach it.

The MP said the qualification, which had been designed with help from exam board OCR and Cambridge University, was already prepared.