Following Education Secretary Lucy Powell’s speech at the Confederation of School Trusts (CST) Conference, NFER Research Director, Luke Bocock, said:
"We welcome the Government’s commitment to giving oracy a more prominent place in the curriculum and recognising the vital role spoken communication plays in young people’s learning, confidence, and future opportunities. However, oracy should be emphasised alongside curriculum knowledge and a fuller range of the essential employment skills every young person will need to thrive in the future.
"Our Skills Imperative 2035 research identified a set of six Essential Employment Skills (EES) that are already important today, but which will be increasingly vital in future as AI and technology reshape jobs. Oracy lies at the heart of some of these skills - communication and collaboration - and supports the development of others - such as problem-solving and creative thinking.
"The Government has reflected the importance of these skills in the new Employability Skills Framework, an important step towards a more consistent approach to valuing, developing, and assessing these skills. This now needs to be backed up by clear guidance, resources, and age-related expectations for education providers, showing how the full breadth of these skills – including speaking and listening – can be most effectively developed.”