Green light for natural history GCSE after years of lobbying

Teenagers will be able to learn about the importance of newts, bats and jumping spiders after the government announced the introduction of a GCSE in natural history.

- Patrick Barkham

Nature lovers had campaigned for the qualification for more than a decade but, despite a curriculum being drawn up, the measure stalled under the previous Conservative government. Announcing the new GCSE in parliament, Catherine McKinnell, the minister for school standards, said it would equip young people "to understand and respect the natural world and contribute to the protection and conservation of the environment locally, nationally and internationally".