Canterbury Christ Church University has launched a new National Oracy Forum for the South East at the Houses of Parliament, aiming to place speaking and listening skills at the centre of education policy and practice.
The Forum will bring together schools, academics, and charities to develop a regional oracy strategy and action plan, with a focus on improving educational outcomes and reducing disadvantage. It comes amid growing national attention on oracy, with research highlighting significant gaps in early language development—particularly among disadvantaged children—and strong evidence that targeted oral language interventions can significantly boost learning across all phases of education.
Recent policy developments have further elevated the importance of oracy. The 2024 Oracy Education Commission identified it as the “fourth R,” alongside reading, writing, and arithmetic, while the Government’s education reform plans signal a greater role for oracy in the curriculum from 2028.
The Forum aims to promote a coordinated, evidence-informed approach to embedding oracy across education, supporting not only academic attainment but also confidence, engagement, and inclusion. A national steering group—comprising university representatives, sector organisations such as Voice 21, and other partners—is being established to guide the work across four key areas: conceptualisation, implementation, evaluation, and policy.
The initiative builds on Canterbury Christ Church University’s existing outreach and research activity. Programmes such as Inspiring Minds and Change Makers have demonstrated positive impacts on student confidence, participation, and attainment through structured, research-led interventions in schools across Kent and Medway.
The South East is intended to act as a pilot region, with the ambition of developing a scalable model for a coordinated national approach to oracy within the next five years. The overall goal is to ensure that all children have access to high-quality support in speaking and listening, enabling these skills to become a core and consistent part of education.
Organisations and individuals interested in contributing to the National Oracy Forum or supporting the development of the South East Oracy Strategy are invited to register their interest here.
