Teen's joy as skateboarding added to GCSE sports

Osian George, 15, was so disappointed he could not skateboard for his GCSE that he started campaigning for change

A teenager who campaigned for skateboarding to be included in school qualifications is proud to see it added to the list of approved GCSE sports in Wales.

Osian George, 15, said that while he lost out on the extra training opportunities, he is “very happy” others will now benefit.

The skateboarder from Cross Hands, Carmarthenshire, began the sport at just five-years-old and now competes regularly, coming second in last year’s Urban Games in Cardiff.

Qualifications Wales this week added 13 new sports to the approved list for GCSE level physical education, including skateboarding.

Other newly-allowed sports include BMX, shooting, kickboxing and wakeboarding.

In June 2023, the independent qualification regulator published the approval criteria for a new Made-for-Wales GCSE in Physical Education and Health, which will be available for first teaching from September 2026.

Since then, it has worked with a range of different stakeholders including teachers, coaches and the WJEC exam board, to co-create the approved list of sports learners will choose from when completing the non-examination assessment.

“I am really glad that they have allowed it, because I think it’s going to give a lot of opportunities to young skateboarders,” said Osian.

“It makes me feel good that I have helped make this happen. It does disappoint me a bit that I didn’t have this opportunity, but now at least other young people will.”

Osian came second in last year's Urban Games and hopes to achieve further success at the event later this year

The change makes Wales the second UK nation to include skateboarding, behind Northern Ireland.

Sam Horler, Welsh hub and operations lead for Skateboard GB, said the inclusion of skateboarding was “long overdue”.

“I’m really excited for this news because it’s a great recognition of the fact that there is a need for alternative sports, not only skateboarding but some of the other ones that came in as well,” he said.

“I think it’s a brilliant opportunity for people, for health, for wellbeing, for communities and it’s going to be a much more fun experience doing their GCSEs as well.”

Sam Horler works with young skaters in Wales to help nurture the next generation in the sport

He said his work involved “nurturing young, up-and-coming talent” in the sport, and hoped the announcement would help further grow the sport.

“The Olympics has already had that effect, we’ve seen a massive upswing in young people taking part in skateboarding, and I would hope this would just go on to magnify that affect even further," he added.

“Skateboarders are resilient, we’re determined and it’s great to hear that young people have been instrumental in getting this to happen.”

Osian explained that being able to choose skateboarding at GCSE level allowed young skateboarders extra time and resources to craft their skills, while also boosting their academic attainment with something they have already put a lot of effort into.

“Considering football and tennis were already included, people who were into those sports had those opportunities, but people like me didn’t,” he said.

“I think it put people who were into skateboarding off doing PE at school, but now they are more likely to do the GCSE.

“It’s going to help them improve a lot more because they’ll be more interested in it because it’s going to help them in school as well.”

He added the sport boosted participants' mental, as well as physical health.

Osian said he would like to see more skateparks opened, to support new learners.

“There aren’t many skateparks, especially in Wales,” he said.

Osian says that more skateparks will be needed in Wales to allow students to thrive in the sport

“We need a lot more skateparks for people to progress, and now that it's with school work for PE, I think it’s mandatory, that we do get more.

“I like seeing new people coming to skateboarding and if there is someone new I will always try and help them. We all started somewhere, we were all beginners.”

Kerry Jones, senior qualifications manager at Qualifications Wales, said it was important to the organisation to make the updated list as “engaging and inclusive as it can be”.

“We considered that these really are sports and physical activities that young people are enjoying taking part in at the moment, and by adding them to the approved list we hope that it will encourage more young people to participate in this new GCSE.”