Oracy is a fundamental skill that should be a common entitlement for all young people, throughout their formal education.

We conceptualise oracy in five ways:

• Early speech and language development
• Disciplinary oracy – the ability to think and speak in a subject-specific way, which becomes increasingly expert and sophisticated throughout school
• Taught rhetoric – the explicit teaching of rhetorical devices and public speaking
• Pedagogic oracy – how speaking and listening can be used to teach and embed knowledge, and assess subject-specific content
• Extra-curricular oracy – activities that support oracy beyond the formal curriculum, such as debating clubs, school and college plays, student voice activities, Model UN, etc.

We think it is unhelpful to think of ‘speaking and listening’ as generic or transferable skills, and would strongly urge against any recommendations for them to be included in the curriculum without being rooted in strong, knowledge-rich subject content.

Changes to the national curriculum and to GCSEs have arguably undermined the importance of oracy in the curriculum. Speaking and listening is assessed in GCSE English Language, but carries no weighting. Members tell us this means students don’t value it, as it doesn’t count towards their grade. In turn, this devalues the importance of speaking and listening within the specification, and more broadly.

Full response to consultation