A new natural history GCSE focusing on how to protect the planet could help young people with mental health issues, experts have said.
The qualification will be available from September 2025 and is expected to be announced by Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi today (Thursday 21 April).
Environmentalists said that the subject, focusing on topics such as climate change and biodiversity, would be “very nurturing and life-enhancing” by connecting young people with the natural world.
Mary Colwell, an environmentalist who led calls for the subject to be taught in schools, said: “If you don’t have people that understand nature to monitor those changes (because of climate change) and interpret them, we’re missing a lot of evidence and a lot of clues about what we need to do – so nature is a great informer about what is happening to the planet.
“But it’s not just about problem solving and tackling climate change – I think that the natural world provides people with a lot of solace and inspiration and we are in challenging times, being surrounded by things that nurture us. The study of natural history is very nurturing and life-enhancing.
“I think it could help young people with mental health issues and I think that was one of the reasons why (Levelling Up Secretary) Michael Gove was very keen – he was very supportive of the idea when we went to see him back in 2018 and he kept raising the idea that I can see the connections between this and a mental health crisis in young people.
“There is a connection between connecting with nature and better mental health.”
Caroline Lucas, the Green Party MP for Brighton Pavilion, said: “I’m absolutely delighted that the long campaign to introduce a GCSE in natural history has finally been successful and I pay tribute to everyone who’s helped to achieve it – first and foremost Mary Colwell, whose brilliant initiative it was.
“Britain is a nation of nature-lovers yet we’re also ranked as one of the most nature-depleted countries in the world.
“We owe it to our young people to teach them more about the riches of the natural world so they can recognise and appreciate its beauty, understand the scale of the loss we’re living through and be equipped with the necessary tools to reverse it.”
The new GCSE, designed by the OCR exam board, could be taught to pupils aged 14 to 16, allowing them to develop the skills for careers in conservation.
Pupils already learn about environmental issues through the study of urbanisation in geography and habitats in science but the government said that the new course would “go further” in teaching them about the history and evolution of species and the impact of life on natural environments as well as how they are changing and evolving.
Education Secretary Nadhim Zahawi said: “We are delivering a better, safer, greener world for future generations and education is one of our key weapons in the fight against climate change. The entrepreneurial, can-do spirit of this country makes me confident that we will win this fight.
“It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that young people are already very committed to a more sustainable planet. We should be proud of this. And I want to do everything I can to encourage this passion so they can be agents of change in protecting our planet.
“The new natural history GCSE will offer young people a chance to develop a deeper knowledge and understanding of this amazing planet, its environment and how we can come together to conserve it.”
Tim Oates, who leads research and development at Cambridge University Press and Assessment, said: “It would be a really sensible thing to take alongside double science and it wouldn’t be crazy to take it alongside triple science if you were doing biology, chemistry, physics, because it would ground in the behaviour and actions of whole organisms – all those biological processes that are essential to the biology qualification.”
OCR chief executive Jill Duffy said: “This GCSE is a wonderful opportunity for young people everywhere – from urban to rural environments – to study and connect with wildlife and the natural world.
“Deeper engagement with biodiversity and sustainability will equip generations of young people to understand their environment and grapple with critical challenges.”
re-branding basic biology/earth sciences in a desparate attempt to make it relevant and not boring and at the time indoctrinating teenagers with Environmental Guilt ect…..i trust the syllabus has space for the Anthropomorphism of Nature … and what do the two Labour MP’s think about it?
I had similar thoughts about this and also wonder if more reference to environmental issues could potentially make mental health issues worse. Some children seem to be fixated enough and overthinking the issue to the exclusion of any practicalities or alternative views. The pressure on some parents to buy an electric car, install a heat pump, install more insulation, only use sustainable products, go vegan, recycle everything, donate to charities and do it all NOW is not helpful to their mental health.