Ukrainian GCSE: government says sorry to refugee children told to study Russian

Updated 4 Nov 2026, 12:35 · First published 4 Nov 2026

The government has apologised to Ukrainian refugee children in England who were told to take a GCSE in Russian, the language of the country that invaded their homeland, because there was no GCSE in Ukrainian. A new Ukrainian GCSE is now being developed.

What happened?

Many Ukrainian children who fled to the UK after Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022 speak both Ukrainian and Russian. With no Ukrainian GCSE available, some were encouraged to take the Russian GCSE instead to gain a qualification in a language they already knew. Children described the suggestion as insulting.

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In 2024, Ukraine’s education ministry wrote to the UK saying many children were being pressured by school staff to sit the Russian exam.

What has the government said?

Schools minister Georgia Gould said she was “really sorry” children had been put in that position. The Department for Education is funding exam board AQA to create a Ukrainian GCSE, and Gould said she hoped British pupils would also take it as a sign of solidarity.

How have Ukrainians reacted?

Ukraine’s education minister, Andrii Butenko, thanked the UK, saying the new exam would give Ukrainian children an equal chance to study their native language. Vitalii Andronik, 20, who was urged to take the Russian GCSE at 15, welcomed the apology but said it came too late for him.

Inna Hryhorovych of St Mary’s Trust, which has campaigned for a Ukrainian GCSE since 2014, said her next goal is a Ukrainian A-level.

Sources: The Guardian (via AOL), Department for Education. Photo (file): Dobrislava / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.