Life Lessons 2024

While academic and subject-specific skills and knowledge are vital for young people, it is increasingly clear that broader ‘life skills’ – things like communication, resilience, motivation and confidence – are also needed for success, both in education and in the workplace. Of those ‘life skills’, the development of communication skills particularly, and speaking specifically (sometimes termed ‘oracy’), have grown in popularity in recent years. Speaking was also highlighted in Labour’s recent manifesto, and the new government’s curriculum review aims to deliver – “A curriculum that ensures children and young people leave compulsory education ready for life and ready for work, building the knowledge, skills and attributes young people need to thrive. This includes embedding digital, oracy and life skills in their learning”.

This research looks at the views of teachers, on life skills more widely, and on speaking in more detail. It looks at what is being done in schools today, and what teachers would like to see to help them to develop the skills of students further in future. It also includes breakdowns of provision by the deprivation level of schools, as well as differences between state and private schools in delivery.

96%

The proportion of teachers who think life skills are as or more important than formal qualifications

1 in 5

state school teachers don't think their school provides good life skills opportunities

48%

The proportion of state school teachers who say they do not have time to focus on improving oracy

Key Findings

Life skills such as confidence, motivation, resilience and communication are important for young people’s success, both in schools and in the workplace.
Almost all (96%) of teachers think life skills are as or more important than formal academic qualifications in determining how well young people do in adulthood.
1 in 5 teachers in state schools do not think their school provides good opportunities for pupils to develop these non-academic skills, compared to just 1 in 10 teachers in private schools.
A focus on speaking or ‘oracy’ to improve students’ communication skills has become popular in recent years. The new government has also committed to ensuring oracy and life skills are embedded in schools.The majority of state schools already report some type of oracy related activity. The most common being to embed oracy in some lessons (e.g. English or History), reported by 37% of senior leaders. 31% said oracy was embedded in most lessons, and 30% that teachers had training in oral language interventions. Debate clubs were popular in private schools (53%), but much less common in state schools (18%). The biggest barriers to improving oracy reported in state schools were not enough teaching time (48%), not enough staff time (46%), and not enough teacher training or development (46%).
If government were to commit additional funding to oracy, 68% of state school senior leaders would like to see additional teacher training, 50% implementation of a whole school oracy strategy, and 30% one to one or small group oracy interventions outside of lessons.

Recommendations

The new government’s ongoing curriculum review should include a specific focus on improving life skills, such as communication, resilience, motivation and confidence, for students from lower socio-economic backgrounds. This group of students often have least access to the extra-curricular activities likely to help them develop these essential skills, so it is vital they are provided with these opportunities within the school curriculum.
During the curriculum review, government should also look to consult widely with schools on the pros and cons of existing approaches. For example, many schools are already working to improve the oracy and speaking skills of their students, and will have valuable learnings on what does or does not work on the ground. The review should make the most of these experiences, across both the state and private sectors.
The new curriculum should ensure state school students at all ability levels have the opportunity to develop their oracy skills. Schools should be encouraged to teach all students the broad foundations of oracy and speaking skills, and to also give highly able students access to interventions to stretch their skill set further, for example through activities like debating. However, schools should ensure any such stretch activities are accessible to students from all socio-economic backgrounds.
Government should continue to fund the evaluation of activities aiming to improve life skills, including oracy. While initial evidence on many of these interventions are positive, more research is needed before oracy and speaking skills can be successfully developed in state schools nationwide.

Related Research

Life Lessons

Speaking Up

Paving the Way