Oracy opportunities “decline sharply” in the early part of secondary school - at the same time as students’ confidence with related skills is reducing - according to a major survey of children’s literacy skills.
Less than half of children feel comfortable expressing their feelings, the National Literacy Trust also finds in its report, Children and young people’s speaking and listening in 2025.
The findings come after the government pledged to introduce an oracy framework in both primary and secondary, in line with a recommendation in the curriculum and assessment review published in November.
While today’s report welcomes the moves to put oracy on the national curriculum, it suggests more national guidance is needed on how oracy should be taught in schools.
KS3 ‘critical’ for oracy
The National Literacy Trust report finds that students’ self-confidence in oracy skills drops at a “critical point” in their secondary education. There is a dip at age 11 to 16 in how good students think they are at asking teachers questions, reading aloud and speaking up in class, ahead of a perceived improvement in these skills at age 16 to 18.
This is also the point at which teachers report a decline in opportunities to develop these skills in the classroom, the report finds. Although opportunities for structured oracy activities such as debates and presentations were reported across all phases, they were less frequent in secondary schools.
“This trend underscores the need for more consistent opportunities to practise throughout schooling, not just at the start and end,” the report notes.
It also states: “Practical speaking and listening - from reading aloud to giving presentations - emerged as the weakest area [overall]. These skills require structured practice, but both young people’s responses and teachers’ survey data suggest that opportunities decline sharply in secondary school.”
It adds: “The pattern is striking: high levels of ability in primary, a marked drop in early secondary, and then recovery by post-16 when debates and presentations become common again.”
Geoff Barton, chair of the Oracy Commission, said that the need for the development of young people’s spoken language and listening skills has become “more urgent”.
He added: “Oracy needs to be given higher priority in early teacher training and ongoing professional development. This will enable young people to deepen their engagement with subjects through high-quality speaking and active, critical listening. It will make teaching more rewarding.”
Expressing feelings
The National Literacy Trust surveyed 105,583 children and young people aged 8 to 18 - as part of the Annual Literacy Survey, run since 2010 - and 2,908 teachers from primary and secondary schools across the UK.
Children and young people rated themselves most highly in everyday interpersonal skills. Most (81 per cent) said they could listen to others and understand their point of view, while 75 per cent felt comfortable having one-to-one conversations.
However, only 45 per cent felt that they were good at expressing their feelings, and only 52 per cent could use body language effectively.
Again, there was a dip during early adolescence, with fewer students aged 11 to 16 rating themselves highly for expressing feelings than was the case for younger children and older teenagers.
The most challenging skill for students was speaking in front of an audience, with just 40 per cent confident in doing this.
In gender terms, boys remain more confident speaking than girls, while girls are more confident listening.
This reflects findings from the National Literacy Trust’s initial 2010 report, which this year’s report says indicates that “little has changed in the past 15 years”.
Mr Barton called the findings of more girls listening than boys “endemically cultural”.
He added: “There will be implications there for all of us - especially parents, perhaps - on the opportunities we give our own children to hone their own skills of not just speaking, but actively, critically listening.”
Support for teachers
Students from disadvantaged backgrounds face the most significant barriers, the report finds.
Young people who are not eligible for free school meals are more confident communicators and more able to challenge others’ views than those who are eligible, according to the findings.
While the report welcomes the government’s ambition to prioritise oracy education, it says that “more detail on its implementation and support for teachers will be crucial”.
Improved curriculum guidance and increased training and support for teachers are both needed to put oracy in a stronger position, the report finds.
It also warns that there is “no national guidance on the components of oracy or how it should be taught in schools”.
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