As the Government announces plans to make spoken communication a core part of education, My-Thesis asks why these essential skills should stop being assessed when students reach university.
For generations, education has been built around three fundamental skills: reading, writing and arithmetic. Yet one of the most important abilities for success in life has often been overlooked — the capacity to communicate our ideas clearly and confidently through speech.
That may finally be changing.
On 15 October 2026, Education Secretary Lucy Powell announced plans to give oracy — the ability to express ourselves effectively through speaking and listening — equal status with reading and writing in England's national curriculum.
Speaking at the Confederation of School Trusts conference, Powell argued that communicating confidently is essential for success in both work and life. She also recognised that opportunities to develop these skills have too often been determined by social background.
Her ambition is that every child should have the opportunity to develop their voice, with speaking, listening and communication embedded in education from primary school through to GCSE and beyond.
This is a welcome recognition of something that educators and employers have understood for decades: what we know matters, but so does our ability to communicate what we know.
The missing skill in education
The ability to communicate through speech is one of the defining characteristics of being human. Long before the invention of writing, knowledge was passed from one generation to another through conversation, storytelling, explanation and debate.
Yet modern education overwhelmingly rewards written performance. From school examinations to university dissertations, students are primarily evaluated on what they can put on paper.
Of course, literacy remains indispensable. But written examinations reveal only part of a person's abilities.
A student may possess exceptional knowledge yet struggle to explain an idea to another person. Conversely, someone who can communicate complex concepts clearly, respond to questions and engage an audience demonstrates an additional set of valuable skills.
These abilities are not simply a matter of confidence or personality. Effective communication requires organising information, understanding an audience, selecting relevant evidence and translating complex ideas into accessible language.
They are skills that can be taught, practised and improved.
Why speaking matters more in the age of AI
Powell's announcement comes at a particularly important moment.
Artificial intelligence is transforming how we produce written material. Essays, reports, applications and even research summaries can now be generated or substantially refined using AI tools.
This does not make writing irrelevant. But it raises important questions about how we evaluate individual knowledge and ability.
When a written submission can be polished by an automated system, how do we establish whether the person submitting it genuinely understands the material?
One answer is to ask them to explain it.
Spoken communication offers an opportunity to demonstrate understanding, particularly when students must answer questions, defend their reasoning or respond spontaneously to unfamiliar challenges.
AI can also generate speech, so a recorded presentation is not automatically proof of authenticity. Nevertheless, appropriately verified presentations and live discussions can provide valuable additional evidence of an individual's understanding and communication abilities.
In an increasingly automated world, the capacity to connect with other people, explain complex ideas and engage in meaningful dialogue deserves greater attention.
What about university students?
While the Government's announcement focuses primarily on school education, its implications extend much further.
Universities invest considerable resources in teaching students how to research, analyse information and write academically. Yet structured training and assessment in spoken communication remain comparatively inconsistent.
This is particularly striking at postgraduate level.
Doctoral researchers spend years developing specialist expertise, often producing lengthy theses that only a handful of people will ever read. But how effectively can they communicate the significance of their research to someone outside their discipline?
For many graduates, this will be one of the most valuable skills they take into employment.
Employers increasingly emphasise communication, teamwork, critical thinking and the ability to explain ideas to different audiences. Academic expertise is important, but graduates must also demonstrate how that expertise can be applied and communicated.
If we now recognise speaking as a fundamental educational skill at school, surely universities should be doing more to develop and recognise it too.
Making communication skills visible
This is one of the motivations behind the my-thesis platform.
Our platform showcases short research presentations by graduate students, making them searchable by research topic, institution and other relevant information.
Students can develop individual speaker profiles that bring their research and communication abilities together in one place.
Rather than simply stating on a CV that they possess excellent communication skills, researchers can provide an example of themselves explaining their work.
For prospective employers, collaborators and academic institutions, this offers something different from traditional written qualifications: the opportunity to see and hear a graduate communicate complex ideas.
My-Thesis is not intended to replace academic assessment or professional recruitment procedures. Instead, it provides an additional way to recognise and showcase a skill that has historically received too little attention.
We believe spoken communication deserves to be valued as part of a researcher's professional identity.
From an educational privilege to a universal opportunity
Perhaps the most important aspect of Powell's announcement is the recognition that speaking confidently should not be a privilege reserved for those who have enjoyed particular educational or social advantages.
Students arrive at university with very different levels of public-speaking experience. Some have participated in debating societies, drama productions or formal presentations throughout their schooling. Others have had comparatively few opportunities to speak in front of an audience.
Confidence is not necessarily an indicator of intellectual ability.
If universities expect graduates to demonstrate effective spoken communication, they must also provide equitable opportunities to develop those abilities.
That means training, encouragement, constructive feedback and appropriate assessment — not simply rewarding students who are already confident speakers.
It also means recognising that effective communication can take different forms and that students may require different kinds of support.
A new chapter for education?
The Government's proposed reforms are still to be developed, including how speaking skills will be incorporated into assessment. Giving oracy equal status in the curriculum is an important ambition, but delivering it fairly and effectively will require careful implementation.
Nevertheless, the principle is difficult to dispute.
Education should equip people not only to acquire knowledge but also to communicate it.
For universities, this presents an opportunity to reconsider how communication is taught, recognised and demonstrated throughout undergraduate and postgraduate education.
At My-Thesis, we believe that every researcher has a story worth telling and that every graduate deserves the opportunity to demonstrate their ability to communicate it.
If speaking is finally being recognised alongside reading and writing as an essential part of school education, it is time for universities to give it the same attention.