Oracy in Education: Why Speaking and Listening Matter

A pupil can give a correct answer without fully understanding it. Another can understand the idea but struggle to put it into words. A third may learn most effectively by listening to someone else’s explanation, questioning it and revising their own understanding.

These are not simply differences in confidence or presentation skills. They illustrate why speaking and listening matter to education.

Oracy is increasingly prominent in England’s curriculum debate. The government’s curriculum reforms include a new primary oracy framework and a combined secondary framework bringing together oracy, reading and writing.

In October 2026, the Education Secretary also announced plans to give oracy equal status alongside reading and writing as a strand of the English curriculum.

The policy direction is significant, but giving oracy a more visible place in curriculum documents will not automatically improve learning. The real challenge is to make purposeful communication part of how knowledge is developed, examined and understood.

Oracy is not simply public speaking

When people hear the word oracy, they may imagine presentations, speeches or formal debates. These can be valuable, but speaking confidently in front of an audience is only one part of the picture.

Oracy includes the ability to communicate meaning, listen carefully, question, explain, adapt language and respond to other people’s ideas.

It also involves recognising that different situations require different forms of communication.

Explaining a mathematical method is not the same as discussing a character’s motives in English.
Describing a scientific observation is not the same as evaluating evidence for a conclusion.

Each subject has its own language, conventions and forms of reasoning. Strong oracy teaching should help pupils use these forms of communication accurately, not merely encourage them to speak more frequently.

Talk can make understanding visible

Consider a pupil who produces the correct answer to a maths question.

The answer alone may not reveal whether they understand the underlying relationship or have followed a familiar procedure.
Asking them to explain the method can provide additional insight.
A teacher might discover that the pupil understands each step but cannot explain why the method works.

Alternatively, a pupil might have a sound conceptual explanation but make a minor calculation error.

These are different learning needs. Purposeful discussion can help teachers identify them and respond appropriately.

The same principle applies elsewhere.

In history, explaining why a source might be useful requires knowledge of context and evidence.
In science, discussing why an experimental result supports or challenges a hypothesis reveals how a learner understands scientific reasoning.

Talk becomes educationally valuable when it helps learners work with knowledge more precisely.

Listening deserves equal attention

An emphasis on speaking can overlook the equally important skill of listening. Listening is not simply remaining quiet while someone else talks. It involves interpreting what has been said, identifying the central argument, noticing uncertainty and deciding how to respond.

A productive classroom discussion depends on pupils being able to build on ideas, ask for clarification and recognise when their understanding needs to change.

This requires deliberate teaching. For example, pupils can be asked to summarise another learner’s explanation before offering their own. They might identify a point of agreement, explain a difference or ask a question that moves the discussion forward.

The purpose is not to enforce agreement. It is to establish communication as a shared process of understanding.

More classroom talk does not necessarily mean better learning

One risk of increased policy attention is that schools equate oracy with activity.

A classroom might contain frequent discussions without pupils developing stronger understanding.
A learner may participate enthusiastically while practising an incorrect explanation.
Another may remain silent because the structure does not give them a meaningful opportunity to contribute.

The quality of the interaction matters.

Teachers need to consider:

What knowledge should pupils use in the discussion?
What kind of explanation or reasoning does the task require?
What vocabulary needs to be understood?
How will pupils learn from the responses?
What should happen when an explanation is incomplete or inaccurate?

Useful classroom talk is designed around the learning objective. It should deepen or clarify understanding, rather than become a performance detached from the curriculum.

Participation should not depend on who speaks fastest

Oracy creates an important inclusion challenge. Some pupils are comfortable speaking spontaneously. Others need time to organise their thoughts. Some communicate more effectively through sign language, assistive communication systems or carefully structured exchanges. Others understand well but experience difficulty with spoken expression.

The answer is not to equate verbal fluency, speed, or volume with intelligence. An inclusive approach can provide different routes into participation while maintaining appropriate expectations.

For example, pupils might review a question before discussion, use brief written prompts, rehearse an explanation or contribute through a supported communication method.

Such adaptations do not remove the importance of communication. They recognise that meaningful participation requires attention to how pupils access it.

The evidence supports purposeful oral language approaches

The Education Endowment Foundation’s Teaching and Learning Toolkit reports an average positive impact of around six months’ additional progress for oral language interventions in the studies reviewed.

That figure needs careful interpretation. Much of the underlying evidence concerns literacy outcomes, particularly reading comprehension. It should not be treated as a prediction that any oracy activity will produce six months of improvement.

The EEF also emphasises the importance of integrating approaches with curriculum content. This points towards an important principle. Oracy is not strengthened simply by adding a weekly speaking activity; it is strengthened when teachers deliberately develop the language and interactions needed to learn their subjects.

^{Illustration connecting explanation, active listening and collaborative discussion as three elements of oracy in education.}

What curriculum reform must achieve

If oracy is to have a stronger place in education, several questions need practical answers.

What should pupils learn? Progression needs to cover listening, explanation, questioning, communication and subject-appropriate language.
How should teachers teach it? Guidance should provide useful approaches without imposing a single model for every subject or learner.
How should progress be recognised? Assessment must distinguish communication skills from personality, accent, confidence or willingness to speak publicly.
How will schools make time? Oracy should enrich subject learning rather than compete with essential curriculum content.
Who needs additional support? Pupils with communication difficulties should have access to appropriate teaching and adaptations without being excluded from ambitious learning.

These are questions of curriculum design and professional practice, not simply terminology.

The role of tutoring

Tutoring provides opportunities for close, purposeful dialogue.

A tutor can ask a learner to describe what they understand, explain an unfamiliar concept, compare possible approaches or identify where an explanation becomes uncertain. This can be particularly valuable when a pupil has developed a habit of guessing or waiting for confirmation.

However, good tutoring should not become a continuous cycle of adult questions and learner responses. The learner needs opportunities to ask questions, challenge explanations and increasingly decide how to communicate their thinking.

The objective is greater understanding and independence, not more talk for its own sake.

Communication belongs at the centre of learning

Reading, writing, speaking and listening are connected, but they are not interchangeable. Each contributes to how pupils encounter, develop and communicate knowledge.

A stronger emphasis on oracy is welcome when it improves opportunities for meaningful participation. It becomes less useful if reduced to performance, compliance or a new set of activities to complete.

The important question is not whether every pupil speaks more. It is whether more pupils can use communication to understand, question and explain the world around them.

That is why oracy should not be treated as an extra. It is part of learning itself.

Sources and further reading

1. Department for Education: New curriculum to give young people the skills for life and work
Sets out the government's curriculum reform proposals, including greater emphasis on speaking, listening and communication throughout primary and secondary education.

2. Department for Education: Education Secretary speech at CST Conference 2026
Provides the policy context for the government's renewed emphasis on oracy and its intended place alongside reading and writing in the curriculum.

3. Curriculum and Assessment Review: Final Report
Examines the strengths and limitations of the existing curriculum and assessment system, including recommendations concerning communication, literacy and curriculum development.

4. Education Endowment Foundation: Oral language interventions
Summarises evidence on structured oral-language activities and their impact on learning, while helping distinguish purposeful dialogue from simply increasing classroom talk.

5. Education Endowment Foundation: Improving Literacy in Key Stage 2
Offers practical, evidence-informed approaches to developing language, comprehension and literacy through classroom teaching.

6. Voice 21: Oracy Education
Introduces an organisation specialising in oracy education, with resources and approaches for helping schools develop speaking, listening and communication skills.

We are discussing this article on LinkedIn: Oracy is not an extra. It is part of how pupils learn to think.

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