OxfordAQA and 8billionideas launch International GCSE Global Skills Projects, 'most important new GCSE in a generation'
David Harkin of 8billionideas and Andrew Coombe, Managing Director of OxfordAQA, celebrate a partnership that will deliver the ground-breaking new GCSE
Andrew Coombe (left), MD of OxfordAQA, and David Harkin, CEO and Founder of 8billionideas, complete signing of their exciting new partnership
Emily Cheffins, Chief Examiner of OxfordAQA: 'This GCSE represents an important evolution in how international education prepares students for the future'
New GCSE places real-world problem-solving, critical thinking and global citizenship alongside core subjects from the start of secondary education
Launching for first teaching from August 2026, International GCSE Global Skills Projects has been developed in response to profound changes shaping the world young people are preparing to enter – including accelerating advances in artificial intelligence, automation, climate change, shifting labour markets and increasing global uncertainty.
Designed to sit alongside core GCSE subjects such as English, mathematics, sciences and languages, International GCSE Global Skills Projects enables students to begin engaging with global skills learning from the outset of secondary education, building progressively towards formal GCSE assessment during the GCSE years.
The qualification is intended to ensure that strong academic foundations are complemented by the real-world skills increasingly required by universities, employers and society.
International GCSE Global Skills Projects has the potential to become the most important GCSE in a generation, because it brings together rigorous assessment with the real-world skills young people need not only to succeed, but to understand and ultimately change the world around them.
The International GCSE Global Skills Projects is perfectly aligned to the eight pillars of the 8billionideas’ Critical Curriculum, covering entrepreneurship, careers, wellbeing, leadership, performance, financial literacy, sustainability and technology.
Through structured, assessed projects, students are encouraged to explore real-world challenges and apply academic learning in meaningful, practical contexts.
The qualification combines OxfordAQA’s academic rigour, assessment expertise and global reach – supporting schools and millions of students worldwide – with 8billionideas’ award-winning approach to skills-based learning.
Together, the partnership will offer schools a credible, robust way to embed skills development within an internationally recognised GCSE framework.
International GCSE Global Skills Projects will be made available globally, with an ambition to move quickly beyond existing OxfordAQA schools to reach a wider international audience.
OxfordAQA Chief Examiner, Emily Cheffins, said: “GCSEs have always evolved to reflect the needs of society, and today those needs are changing at unprecedented speed. Alongside strong academic foundations, students increasingly require the ability to think critically, collaborate effectively and apply their learning in meaningful ways.
“International GCSE Global Skills Projects brings these capabilities into a rigorous, assessable framework, underpinned by OxfordAQA’s academic standards and global reach. It represents an important evolution in how international education prepares students for the future.”
David Harkin, Founder and CEO of 8billionideas, added: “For decades, educators, employers and policymakers have talked about the need to better connect education to the realities of the world beyond the classroom. This qualification turns that conversation into action.
“Delivered alongside core academic subjects, International GCSE Global Skills Projects gives students the opportunity to apply what they are learning to the challenges shaping their futures – from technology and sustainability to leadership, wellbeing and global citizenship. This learning experience has the potential not just to support academic success, but to empower young people to change the world.
“It is the most important GCSE in a generation.”
Further information about International GCSE Global Skills Projects, including guidance on how schools can get started, is available here.
Jon Bramley
8billionideas
+44 7949 623963
press@8billionideas.com
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