England to introduce Ukrainian-language GCSE in 2028 as UK apologizes to refugee children pressured to study Russian

The announcement follows years of campaigning by Ukraine's government and Ukrainian community organizations representing more than 30,000 children who fled to the UK after Russia's full-scale invasion.

British Schools Minister Georgia Gould also apologized to Ukrainian refugee students who had been encouraged to study Russian because no Ukrainian-language GCSE was available.

"So many students were pushed into having to do Russian. I'm really sorry that they were put in that position," Gould said.

The qualification will be developed by examination board AQA with funding from the Department for Education.

In 2024, Ukraine's Education Ministry warned British officials that Ukrainian children were being pressured by school staff to take Russian-language GCSE exams in the absence of a Ukrainian alternative.

'It's too late for me'

During a visit to St Mary's Ukrainian School in west London, Gould met 20-year-old Ukrainian refugee Vitalii Andronik, who had been urged to take a Russian-language GCSE when he was 15.

"It's too late for me, but I want future generations of refugees to study Ukrainian," Andronik told The Guardian.

He described the decision as recognition of the trauma Ukrainian refugees had experienced.

Sofiia Chonka, 16, who fled Ukraine's western Zakarpattia region in 2024, said she had refused when teachers suggested studying Russian.

"I didn't want anything to do with Russia — they killed my people and injured my family," she said.

Chonka welcomed the new qualification, saying it would allow younger Ukrainian refugees to study their own language.

Years of campaigning

Inna Hryhorovych, head of St Mary's Trust, said she had been campaigning for a Ukrainian GCSE since Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014.

"It's still hard to comprehend that we don't need to fight for this any more," she said.

Ukraine's Education Minister Andrii Butenko thanked the British government, saying the new exam would give displaced Ukrainian children an equal opportunity to choose their native language as a GCSE subject.

Gould also encouraged British students to take the Ukrainian-language qualification as an expression of solidarity with Ukraine.

When she announced the plan to a group of Ukrainian pupils, they applauded and responded together in Ukrainian: "Diakuyemo" - "Thank you."