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<p>Awarding organisations offering GCSEs and A levels are independent, <ins class="ministerial">and
mostly</ins> not-for-profit organisations<ins class="ministerial">, with the exception
of Pearson Edexcel which is profit making</ins>. They are not contracted to provide
assessments for pupils in particular subjects. AQA offer a GCSE and A level qualification
in Punjabi and Bengali, as well as a GCSE in Urdu. Pearson Edexcel offer a GCSE and
A level qualification in Gujarati and Urdu and International GCSEs (IGCSEs) in Bengali,
Hindi, Sinhalese, and Tamil. Cambridge International offer an A level in Hindi, Urdu,
and Tamil. There are no qualifications available in Pashto or Dari. Awarding organisations
are free to introduce qualifications in any GCSE or A level subject where they consider
there to be a case to do so.</p><p>It is up to schools to decide which languages are
taught as part of their curriculum, both at primary and secondary school, and the
government does not specify which languages should be taught or how to teach them.</p><p>There
has been no funding provided directly for the teaching of Punjabi, Bengali, Hindi,
Gujarati, Urdu, Sinhalese, Tamil, Pashto and Dari within the previous five years.
However, the department has committed to establishing a network of language hubs,
as per the Schools White Paper, and are considering ways in which we can support home,
heritage and community languages as part of this.</p>
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