In June 2023, the Labour party committed, in its Education manifesto, to prioritise communication skills if it succeeded in being elected into government:

Improving communication skills (oracy): A significant barrier to young people getting on in life is an inability to speak up, to express their views, to ask for help, to persuade others, to collaborate successfully. These vital speaking skills are becoming even more important in the workplace and yet are not always taught in schools.

These speaking skills – known as oracy – can deepen children’s understanding, analytical skills and engagement leading to better classroom outcomes. Oracy’s contribution to accelerating academic progress has been evidenced by the Education Endowment Foundation.¹⁹ Drawing on this evidence, Labour’s Curriculum and Assessment Review will explore how to weave oracy into lessons throughout school. Children with poor language at age five are six times less likely to reach the expected standard in English at age 11 than those with good language at that age, and 11 times less likely to achieve the expected standard in maths.

The ability young people have to articulate themselves, justify, persuade, challenge and explain, are crucial to the world of work, working in a team and navigating the modern world. Labour wants to help every child find their voice. In Spring 2024, an independent Oracy Education Commission was founded to explore current policy and practice affecting the learning and teaching of communication skills from early years to further education in England. The Commissioners (drawn from education, performing arts and industry) considered submissions of evidence from classroom practitioners, academics, policy colleagues, assessment professionals, employers and charity representatives. They also recorded a series of Commission Conversations (podcasts) with key stakeholders in the field.

Their report and recommendations were published in October 2024. Rhetoric gets a single mention in the report (as a possible route to improving speech and debate), with (sadly) no reference to Aristotle.

Arlene Holmes-Henderson’s Commission Conversation, however, explains in detail the relationship between ancient rhetoric and contemporary oracy education. You can listen here: https://oracyeducationcommission.co.uk/the-commission-conversations-arlene-holmes-henderson/