This article first appeared on 7 November 2025 in my LinkedIn newsletter, now called #NDChat.

The Curriculum and Assessment Review (2025), published on 5 November 2025, gives oracy more weight than any major national education report in recent years. It argues that spoken language should hold the same importance as reading and writing — not as an optional extra, but as a core element of learning and assessment. And for students with ADHD, this could mark the beginning of meaningful change.

From classroom to real world

Think about how most adults operate: we discuss ideas, collaborate in meetings, solve problems aloud, and present our thinking in real time. Outside school, our ability to express ourselves clearly, adapt our tone, and engage others isn’t just an academic skill — it’s the currency of communication, creativity, and leadership.

So it makes perfect sense that a “world-class curriculum for all” should value oracy as central to learning. Spoken language isn’t a side-note; it’s how we make sense of the world.

Why oracy matters for ADHD learners

For many students with ADHD, written tasks feel like running a race with weights strapped to their legs. They often have insight and ideas in abundance — but struggle with the mechanics of getting those ideas down on paper. Research suggests that 35–65% of children with ADHD experience difficulties in written expression (Rosenblum et al., 2010; Re & Cornoldi, 2010).

Writing demands sustained organisation, sequencing, and self-monitoring — all processes governed by executive function and working memory, which ADHD directly affects. As Barkley (2015) notes, “language, particularly spoken self-directed speech, plays a key role in the self-regulation of behaviour.”

Speaking allows learners to externalise their thinking, access real-time feedback, and sustain focus through interaction and stimulation — the natural regulators of the ADHD brain.

Motivation and immediacy

Motivation in ADHD depends on immediacy and emotional connection, not delayed rewards (Sonuga-Barke, 2005). Oracy provides both: it’s active, social, and instantly meaningful. It mirrors the real-world environments where many with ADHD excel — fast-paced, engaging, and rich in feedback. When learning feels purposeful and connected, attention follows. That spark of curiosity — so essential for focus — reignites.

I experienced this first-hand when I learnt French as a mature student. I’ve always been deeply interested in politics and history, which I studied at university, and I found learning much of the grammar very dry and difficult to commit to long-term memory. However, my teacher introduced contentious issues for discussion — topics that demanded opinion, emotion, and argument. I wanted to express myself, to challenge, to contribute.

And that need to communicate gave every new word and phrase meaning. The initial frustration of not being able to communicate my thoughts and beliefs became the catalyst — the motivation — to learn. Purpose and meaning were present, and what had previously felt impossible suddenly became instinctive.

After being advised not to continue French to GCSE level by my school teacher fifteen years earlier, I went on to achieve fluency within a year. Eventually, I led a bilingual English/French team, delivering a bilingual curriculum in an international school.

While cognitive skills are tied to specific contexts, motivation rooted in meaning can reappear across domains — a particularly powerful insight when thinking about ADHD, where interest-based nervous systems (as Dr William Dodson describes) drive engagement far more than abstract reward structures.

It wasn’t the grammar drills or memorisation that made the difference — it was purposeful dialogue. It taught me that when learning connects to emotion and identity, motivation is no longer something to be managed; it becomes self-sustaining.

For students with ADHD, oracy offers that same immediacy — a space where curiosity and communication meet.

Communication in a digital world

The Review also champions digital oracy — the ability to communicate and collaborate effectively through technology. From podcasts to presentations, online debates to video reflections, this form of communication mirrors the professional world.

For learners with ADHD, digital tools add flexibility and control: they can pause, re-record, or use visuals to enhance expression. This is not simply about talking — it’s about communicating. And communication is as diverse in form as it is in function. A curriculum that values multimodal communication prepares learners not just for exams, but for life.

Oracy, self-regulation and inclusion

Neuroscience backs the idea that verbalising thought supports self-control in ADHD. Functional MRI studies show that inner and external speech help maintain focus and manage impulsivity (Alderson-Day & Fernyhough, 2015).

In classrooms, structured discussion, debate, and verbal reasoning offer a powerful form of cognitive scaffolding — allowing students to regulate attention through language rather than silence.

The Review also highlights the importance of flexibility in curriculum delivery so that learning is accessible for all. For neurodivergent students, this is crucial. Flexibility isn’t about lowering expectations — it’s about recognising that how learning happens matters just as much as what is learned.

Within that principle lies an opportunity: to explore a broader range of assessment methods — including oral, dialogic, and interactive forms — that reflect the diversity of human communication.

VIVA-style assessments, for example, already exist in medicine, art, and higher education as valid, rigorous ways to demonstrate knowledge aloud. While not proposed explicitly in the Review, approaches like these could make education more representative of how understanding is expressed and applied beyond school.

Every teacher a teacher of oracy

For this opportunity to have lasting impact, oracy must become everyone’s business. Every teacher must be a teacher of oracy — just as every teacher is a teacher of literacy and numeracy.

We’ve been here before. When speaking and listening were part of the English curriculum, they were often the first to be dropped when time ran short. Curricula rarely account for the true rhythm of school life — assemblies, trips, performances, assessments, enrichment weeks, and the countless events that define each term.

When time pressures mounted, speaking and listening objectives were often the victims. This time, it must be different.

Oracy cannot be an add-on. It has to be woven through every subject, every phase, every classroom — part of the DNA of teaching and learning.

A personal reflection

Ironically, it’s far easier for me to write this article than it would be to deliver it as a talk. Writing lets me slow down and organise my thoughts — something my ADHD brain doesn’t always do easily.

And yet, I know which would motivate me more. Speaking brings energy, connection, and authenticity — the fuel my brain runs on. I’ve often struggled to read or write for sustained periods, with two exceptions:

• when I’m emotionally connected, and

• when I’m under pressure.

That volatility — that “all or nothing” pattern — is familiar to many with ADHD. It’s not inconsistency; it’s chemistry. And that’s why oracy matters: because it offers the stimulation, immediacy, and human connection that unlocks performance.

A note of realism

It’s important to remember that this is only a review. And through many years in school leadership, I’ve seen how good ideas can morph through layers of policy, interpretation, and implementation.

Consultation is essential — it gives everyone a voice. But the design and delivery phase demands clarity, consistency, and courage. Anyone who has implemented a curriculum will understand the old saying: “A camel is a horse designed by a committee.”

If oracy is to become a lasting feature of educational reform, it must be guided by a shared vision — not diluted by compromise.

Final thought

In the real world, success rarely depends on how neatly we write, but on how clearly we communicate, how well we connect, and how confidently we express what we know — whether on paper, in person, or through a screen.

The Curriculum and Assessment Review (2025) offers an opportunity — not a celebration, but a challenge — to build a system that values communication in all its forms, for all kinds of minds.

If we get it right, we won’t just change how students learn. We’ll change who gets to succeed.

References

• Alderson-Day, B., & Fernyhough, C. (2015). Inner speech: Development, cognitive functions, phenomenology, and neurobiology. Psychological Bulletin, 141(5), 931–965.

• Barkley, R. A. (2015). Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Handbook for Diagnosis and Treatment (4th ed.). New York: Guilford Press.

• Berninger, V. W., & Richards, T. L. (2002). Brain Literacy for Educators and Psychologists. Academic Press.

• Dodson, W. (2022). What You Need to Know About the ADHD Brain: Interest-Based Nervous System. ADDitude Magazine.

• Re, A. M., & Cornoldi, C. (2010). Spelling errors and ADHD: Evidence for a deficit in the inhibition of orthographic errors. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 43(4), 360–370.

• Rosenblum, S., Aloni, T., & Josman, N. (2010). Relationships between handwriting performance and organisational ability among children with ADHD. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 31(2), 367–377.

• Sonuga-Barke, E. J. S. (2005). Causal models of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: From common simple deficits to multiple developmental pathways. Biological Psychiatry, 57(11), 1231–1238.