Voice 21 hosted the education sector’s leading thinkers, talkers and doers in London on Friday, 20 March, at a pivotal moment for oracy in education. 

Teachers, policymakers and academics alike joined us from across the UK and beyond to form a packed lineup of speakers and guests, which included School Standards Minister, Georgia Gould MP OBE; His Majesty’s Chief Inspector at Ofsted, Sir Martyn Oliver and Dame Alison Peacock.

Voice 21 CEO Dr Kate Paradine said: “It’s a testament to the dedication of those in the oracy movement – teachers, school leaders, educationalists, academics and charities across the UK that the case for oracy education has been made so conclusively, and that speaking, listening and communication is now a key part of the plans to transform our education system.”

Georgia Gould MP OBE lays out the government’s vision for oracy 

Weeks after the Department for Education released its Schools White Paper, Voice 21 was joined by Minister for School Standards, Georgia Gould MP OBE. 

The MP for  Queen’s Park and Maida Vale confirmed that the Government holds oracy at the core of its educational reforms, reiterating the commitment set out in the Curriculum and Assessment Review, and is seeking to establish an Oracy Framework for primary schools. As for secondaries, she affirmed that the Government desires to ‘embed [oracy] alongside reading and writing across subjects.

“For me, oracy is as foundational as numeracy, literacy and writing,” the minister stated. The minister also found time to praise Voice 21 for “the evidence [you’ve] built on the importance of oracy to progress and attainment”. It was an honour to host Georgia Gould at The Speaking Summit 2026. You can read our full response to The Schools White Paper here.

Sir Martyn Oliver reiterates oracy’s role in the new inspection framework 

At The Speaking Summit, Sir Martyn Oliver, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector at Ofsted, spoke to attendees about the growing importance of oracy. Ofsted has recently announced that it will include oracy in Ofsted’s latest Inspection Framework, which shares our definition for oracy – the ability to articulate ideas, develop understanding and engage with others through speaking, listening and communication.

Taking the opportunity to speak directly to teachers from across the UK, Sir Martyn said: 

 “Oracy is not just about public speaking or winning a debate. It’s not just about building confidence to get students to put their hands up. It’s about being able to participate fully in life… It is not a nice-to-have; Every child deserves the chance to develop these skills.”

Sir Martyn suggested that Inspectors will also be looking to ensure that early years provision places a strong emphasis on oracy and language comprehension. He was also keen to mention the role that oracy can play in inclusion, in particular in supporting students with Speech, Language, and Communication Needs (SLCN) to access the curriculum in a way that can meet their needs.

Also at The Speaking Summit 

• Professor Julia Snell on the benefits of Dialogic Teaching: [Dialogic teaching and learning is about] a shift in perspective from valuing a correctly stated “right answer” to valuing the thinking process.”  
• Professor Jessie Ricketts laid out 3 arguments for why oracy and reading are two sides of the same story: 1) Oracy and reading draw on the same shared knowledge base 2) Reading and vocabulary development show similar developmental patterns 3) Oracy and reading are mutually beneficial. 
• Dame Alison Peacock made the case that AI would be able to ease the workload demands of oracy assessment for teachers.