THE LAW
Recognised in 2022
The British Sign Language Act 2022 says BSL is recognised as a language of England, Wales and Scotland.
What the Act doesBSL is a language of its own, not English on the hands.
It uses handshapes, facial expressions, gestures and body language, with a grammar that differs from English. Since 2022, the law has recognised it as a language of England, Wales and Scotland.
- Its own grammar
- Recognised in law
- Spelled with two hands
- A visual language with deep roots
THE SHORT ANSWER
A full language,
now in law.
Three things worth knowing
before you learn your first sign.
THE ALPHABET
Two hands, not one
BSL uses a two-handed manual alphabet, used for words with no known sign, such as the names of people and places.
Try fingerspelling
THE PEOPLE
A signing community
The British Deaf Association estimates 151,000 people in the UK use BSL, and 87,000 of them are Deaf.
See by nation
FOUR FIRST STEPS
Start with
your own name.
Fingerspelling is only a small part of signing, but spelling your own name is a friendly place to begin.
Learn the two-handed alphabet
BSL fingerspelling uses both hands, unlike the one-handed alphabets of some other sign languages.
Spell your name
Names of people and places are typical fingerspelled words, because they usually have no sign of their own.
Remember it is mostly signs
In one university study of BSL videos, roughly 5 to 10 percent of signing was fingerspelling.
Watch the face too
Facial expression and body language are part of BSL grammar, and like any language it has regional dialects and accents.
TWO NUMBERS WORTH KNOWING
More people sign
than you might think.
One estimate of everyone who uses BSL,
one census count of people for whom it is the main language.
≈ 151,000
People in the UK who use BSL
The BDA estimates 151,000 people in the UK can use BSL, 87,000 of them Deaf. For every Deaf BSL user at home, there are 1.4 hearing people using it at home.
BSL USERS · BRITISH DEAF ASSOCIATION
22,000
BSL as main language, England and Wales
On Census Day, 21 March 2021, BSL was the main language of 22,000 usual residents aged three and over in England and Wales, up from 15,000 in 2011.
MAIN LANGUAGE · CENSUS 2021
The two figures measure different things: the census asked for a person's main language, while the BDA estimate counts everyone who can use BSL.
WHO SIGNS, WHERE
BSL users
across the UK.
Pick a nation to see the British Deaf Association's estimate of BSL users there, and how many of them are Deaf. The bar shows the relative size.
These are estimates. They exclude professional users such as interpreters unless they use BSL at home.
WHAT THE ACT DOES
Recognition,
then reporting.
The British Sign Language Act 2022 received Royal Assent on 28 April 2022. It recognises BSL in law, requires the Secretary of State to publish reports on promoting and facilitating BSL, and requires guidance to be issued on its use.
Reporting periods are not longer than three years, with the first ending on 30 April 2023. A BSL Advisory Board, with a majority of Deaf BSL signers, was set up to advise government, including on putting the Act into practice.
In conversation
Questions people ask
Is BSL just English in signs?
No. The British Deaf Association describes BSL as a visual-gestural language with its own grammar, using handshapes, facial expressions, gestures and body language.
When was BSL recognised?
The UK Government recognised BSL as a language in its own right on 18 March 2003. The British Sign Language Act 2022, which received Royal Assent on 28 April 2022, recognised it in law as a language of England, Wales and Scotland.
How many people use BSL?
The British Deaf Association estimates 151,000 people in the UK use BSL, of whom 87,000 are Deaf. The 2021 Census found BSL was the main language of 22,000 people in England and Wales.
Is BSL fingerspelling one-handed or two-handed?
Two-handed. BSL, like Auslan, uses a two-handed manual alphabet, mainly for words with no known sign such as names of people and places.
Does BSL have regional accents?
Yes. Like every language, sign languages have regional dialects and accents, according to the British Deaf Association.
Sources
Each figure on this page comes from the sources below.
- legislation.gov.uk: British Sign Language Act 2022
- British Deaf Association: What is BSL?
- ONS: Language, England and Wales, Census 2021
- GOV.UK: BSL users to advise government on key issues for deaf people
- Prajwal et al.: Weakly-supervised fingerspelling recognition in British Sign Language videos (arXiv, 2022)