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Written Question
Basic Skills: Selby and Ainsty
Wednesday 20th September 2023

Asked by: Keir Mather (Labour - Selby and Ainsty)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department has taken to improve children's oracy skills in Selby and Ainsty constituency.

Answered by Nick Gibb

The Department recognises the importance of oracy, which is why spoken language is already part of the National Curriculum for English for 5 to 16 year olds. For Early Years, the Department is investing up to £17 million in the Nuffield Early Language Intervention, improving the language skills of reception age pupils who need it most following the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the Department has secured over £28 million to support the speech and language of pupils worst affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, which are today’s 3 and 4 year olds, delivered through the new family hubs network.

In secondary schools, the GCSE English Language qualification ensures that pupils are able to listen to and understand spoken language and use spoken Standard English effectively. Provisional 2023 data published by Ofqual shows that overall entries to GCSE English Language increased by 4.9% since summer 2022. The data can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/provisional-entries-for-gcse-as-and-a-level-summer-2023-exam-series/provisional-entries-for-gcse-as-and-a-level-summer-2023-exam-series#gcse-entries.

The Department funds the National Poetry Recitation Competition, which encourages both primary and secondary schools to participate, to improve pupils’ knowledge and enjoyment of poetry and to improve oracy through poetry recitation and recall.

The £67 million English Hubs Programme, launched in 2018, is dedicated to improving the teaching of reading, with a focus on phonics, early language development and reading for pleasure. Since its launch, the English Hubs Programme has provided appropriate and targeted support to several thousand schools in England.

​Selby and Ainsty's local English Hub, Outwood English hub, is working to engage and support primary schools across the region to improve the teaching of phonics, including offering showcase events especially for local schools. Outwood English Hub is planning to host a showcase at the Parsonage Hotel and Spa in Escrick later in the Autumn term.


Written Question
Basic Skills: Enfield North
Wednesday 20th September 2023

Asked by: Feryal Clark (Labour - Enfield North)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps her Department has taken to improve children's oracy skills in Enfield North constituency.

Answered by Nick Gibb

The Department recognises the importance of oracy, which is why spoken language is already part of the National Curriculum for English for 5 to 16 year olds. In the early years, the Department are providing up to £17 million of funding in the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI), improving the language skills of reception age pupils who need it most following the pandemic. In addition, the Department has secured over £28 million to support the speech and language of young children worst affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, delivered to 3 and 4 year olds through the new family hubs network.

In secondary schools, the GCSE English Language qualification ensures that students are able to listen to and understand spoken language and use spoken standard English effectively. Provisional 2023 data published by Ofqual shows that overall entries to GCSE English Language increased by 4.9% between summer 2022 and summer 2023. This data can be accessed at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/provisional-entries-for-gcse-as-and-a-level-summer-2023-exam-series/provisional-entries-for-gcse-as-and-a-level-summer-2023-exam-series#gcse-entries.

The Department funds the national poetry recitation competition. This encourages both primary and secondary schools to participate to improve pupils’ knowledge and enjoyment of poetry, and to improve oracy through poetry recitation and recall. The competition provides an opportunity for pupils to enjoy sharing poems aloud.

The £67 million English hubs programme, launched in 2018, is dedicated to improving the teaching of reading, with a focus on phonics, early language development and reading for pleasure. Since its launch, the programme has provided appropriate and targeted support to several thousands of schools across England.

​Enfield North’s local English hub, New Wave, is working to engage and support primary schools across the region to improve the teaching of phonics, including offering showcase events especially for local schools. 10 schools in Enfield have received intensive support from the New Wave English hub, excluding new partner schools who have joined the programme this year. A further five schools received resource funding from the hub in the 2022/23 academic year.


Written Question
Basic Skills: Portsmouth South
Monday 24th July 2023

Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department has taken to improve children's oracy skills in Portsmouth South constituency.

Answered by Nick Gibb

Spoken language is a key part of the knowledge rich curriculum and is taught from early years to GCSE level. The Department recognises the importance of spoken language which is already part of the English National Curriculum. The GCSE English Language qualification ensures that pupils are able to listen to and understand spoken language and use spoken standard English effectively.

The Department is also providing up to £17 million of funding for the Nuffield Early Language Intervention to improve the language skills of reception age pupils who need it most following the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the Department has secured over £28 million to support the speech and language of three and four year olds. This will be delivered through the new family hubs network.

On 11 July 2023, the Department published the updated Reading Framework which outlines how vitally important talking is to reading and how teachers can support all pupils to express their ideas confidently. The £60 million English Hubs Programme, launched in 2018, is dedicated to improving the teaching of reading with a focus on phonics, early language development and reading for pleasure. Since its launch, the English Hubs Programme has provided appropriate and targeted support to several thousand schools.

Portsmouth’s local English Hub, Springhill English Hub, is working hard to engage and support primary schools across Portsmouth to improve the teaching of phonics, including offering showcase events especially for Portsmouth schools. The Hub has supported four schools in the city, with another six expected to become partner schools in September 2023.


Written Question
Pupils: Coronavirus
Wednesday 1st June 2022

Asked by: Andy Carter (Conservative - Warrington South)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that pre-reception and post-reception children can recover their ability to speak and understand language during the covid-19 recovery.

Answered by Will Quince

In total, the department has announced almost £5 billion for an ambitious, multi-year education recovery plan to support young people to catch up on missed learning.

As part of education recovery, the department is investing up to £180 million of recovery support in the early years sector. Strengthening understanding of speech and language development is an important part of this support.

The recovery includes investing in continuous professional development for early years practitioners, through the national expansion of the early years Professional Development Programme, which has a focus on upskilling practitioners to support the early development of literacy and language and early mathematics, alongside personal, social, and emotional development. The department is also investing over £24 million for local authorities to select and train early years practitioners in the best programmes to support parents with the home learning environment. This aims to improve children’s early language and social and emotional development, giving priority to families that will benefit the most.

Additionally, the department is investing £17 million for the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI), which is a proven programme aimed at the reception aged children needing extra support with their speech and language development. We are also increasing the number of qualified special educational needs coordinators in early years settings.

The Recovery Premium, providing £1.3 billion for the 2021/22, 2022/23 and 2023/24 academic years, is additional funding to help schools deliver evidence-based approaches to support education recovery. Recovery Premium eligibility builds on that of the pupil premium. However, school leaders have flexibility to use the funding to support any pupil where a need is identified, including those with speech and language difficulties. Schools can use their funding to assess and address immediate needs, such as those relating to speech and language difficulties, as well as longer-term strategic improvements, such as boosting the quality of oracy teaching.

The Parent Pledge in the Schools White Paper will also make the department’s vision clear that any child who falls behind in English or mathematics will receive the right evidence-based targeted support to get them back on track.


Written Question
Children: Speech and Language Disorders
Friday 25th March 2022

Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how the £1 billion allocated to schools as part of the Recovery Premium will be spent to help children’s speech and language.

Answered by Will Quince

The £300 million Recovery Premium for this academic year is additional funding to help schools deliver evidence-based approaches to support education recovery. In October 2021, as part of our broader Spending Review settlement, we announced an extension to the Recovery Premium, worth £1 billion for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 academic years.

Recovery Premium eligibility builds on that of pupil premium, but school leaders have flexibility to use the funding to support any pupil where a need is identified, including those with speech and language difficulties.

Schools are expected to spend their Recovery Premium, alongside their pupil premium, in line with the Education Endowment Foundation’s recommendation to fund activities that support high quality teaching, provide targeted academic support, and address non-academic barriers to success in school, such as attendance, behaviour, and social and emotional support.

Schools should therefore use their funding to assess and address immediate needs, such as those relating to speech and language difficulties, as well as longer-term strategic improvements, such as boosting the quality of oracy teaching.

We are also investing up to £180 million of recovery support in the early years sector, with new programmes focusing on key areas such as speech and language development for the youngest children. This includes:

  • an expansion of the professional development programme, which has a focus on early language and mathematics, as well as personal, social, and emotional development
  • a significant expansion in the number of staff in group-based providers, and childminders, with an accredited level 3 Special Educational Needs Coordinator qualification
  • programmes to train early years practitioners to support parents with the home learning environment, and improve children’s early language, social and emotional development, and
  • the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI) programme, aimed at reception aged children needing extra support with their speech and language development.

The NELI programme includes training for staff on identifying speech and language difficulties, and is proven to help children make around 3 months of additional progress.


Written Question
Children: Speech and Language Disorders
Friday 25th March 2022

Asked by: Robert Halfon (Conservative - Harlow)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of how the Recovery Premium benefit children with a speech and language difficulty or whose development in speaking and understanding language has been adversely affected as a result of the covid-19 outbreak and associated schools closures.

Answered by Will Quince

The £300 million Recovery Premium for this academic year is additional funding to help schools deliver evidence-based approaches to support education recovery. In October 2021, as part of our broader Spending Review settlement, we announced an extension to the Recovery Premium, worth £1 billion for the 2022/23 and 2023/24 academic years.

Recovery Premium eligibility builds on that of pupil premium, but school leaders have flexibility to use the funding to support any pupil where a need is identified, including those with speech and language difficulties.

Schools are expected to spend their Recovery Premium, alongside their pupil premium, in line with the Education Endowment Foundation’s recommendation to fund activities that support high quality teaching, provide targeted academic support, and address non-academic barriers to success in school, such as attendance, behaviour, and social and emotional support.

Schools should therefore use their funding to assess and address immediate needs, such as those relating to speech and language difficulties, as well as longer-term strategic improvements, such as boosting the quality of oracy teaching.

We are also investing up to £180 million of recovery support in the early years sector, with new programmes focusing on key areas such as speech and language development for the youngest children. This includes:

  • an expansion of the professional development programme, which has a focus on early language and mathematics, as well as personal, social, and emotional development
  • a significant expansion in the number of staff in group-based providers, and childminders, with an accredited level 3 Special Educational Needs Coordinator qualification
  • programmes to train early years practitioners to support parents with the home learning environment, and improve children’s early language, social and emotional development, and
  • the Nuffield Early Language Intervention (NELI) programme, aimed at reception aged children needing extra support with their speech and language development.

The NELI programme includes training for staff on identifying speech and language difficulties, and is proven to help children make around 3 months of additional progress.


Written Question
Children: Communication Skills
Friday 25th February 2022

Asked by: Stephen Morgan (Labour - Portsmouth South)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that supporting children’s spoken language development is part of the forthcoming schools White Paper.

Answered by Robin Walker

The schools white paper will set out the department’s long-term vision for schools with a focus on achieving world-class numeracy and literacy, of which oral language development is integral. Too many children and young people still move to the next phase of education or employment without the fundamental standards in literacy and numeracy they need to reach their full potential. Too many of these are from the most vulnerable and disadvantaged groups.

We will achieve this by ensuring we have excellent teachers, trained in the very best literacy and numeracy approaches, in all areas of the country. We will support our teachers to deliver high standards for all pupils in every classroom, including supporting behaviour and attendance. This will work alongside targeted support for those furthest behind due to the COVID-19 outbreak, the most vulnerable and disadvantaged. Underpinning this, we will ensure a stronger school system, with every school able to access the support they need to improve. The schools white paper will consider the links between early years and primary education as critical stages to children’s development in oracy and spoken language.

We expect to publish the schools white paper in early 2022.


Written Question
English Language: GCSE
Tuesday 29th June 2021

Asked by: Emma Hardy (Labour - Kingston upon Hull West and Hessle)

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of arrangements for assessing spoken language as part of GCSE English Language; and whether he has had discussions with representatives of Ofqual on that matter.

Answered by Nick Gibb

There are no current plans to review the subject content for GCSE English Language on which the assessment objectives are based. The Department is supportive of the promotion of oracy, but it has not yet discussed with Ofqual the recommendations made by the Oracy All-Party Parliamentary Group.

For 2021 and 2022 assessment only, Ofqual have removed the requirement for teachers to submit an audio-visual recording of a sample of students undertaking their spoken language assessment for GCSE English Language. This offers teachers greater flexibility over how and when the assessments are carried out, allowing them to take account of current and potential public health restrictions.