Brilliant and inspiring' Alastair Campbell 'Fantastic' Jeffrey Boakye

'Tremendous, necessary and enlightening' Michael Rosen

'Parents, politicians, teachers, students - you should all read this brilliant book' Anthony Seldon

Literacy. Numeracy. Oracy?

For generations our education system has been built on the twin pillars of literacy and numeracy. But what if a third - and equally vital - pillar has been ignored? Enter oracy: communicating effectively, articulating ideas and engaging with others through spoken language.

In this persuasive and powerful manifesto, Neil Mercer calls for oracy, as a subject and a set of skills, to have equal footing alongside literacy and numeracy. Oracy can and must be taught, so that students leave school not only as readers and writers, but as accomplished speakers and listeners. Mercer incisively shows how oracy education has nothing to do with speaking 'proper', or eliminating style, slang and regional accents, but instead about empowering people to find and express their own voice. In fact, oracy is a key driver of cognitive development, academic attainment and social mobility - helping every young person to achieve their potential and challenge the inequalities of language and power.