Help to Close the Word Gap

The Oxford Language Report has found evidence of a significant word gap in UK schools which is holding back children's learning. Find out how you can help.

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Why Closing the Word Gap Matters: Oxford Langauge Report 2018. Download now.

To better understand the word gap and the impact of school closures on vocabulary we’ve carried out a poll with UK teachers*:

92% of teachers think school closures and remote learning will contribute to a widening of the word gap
73% of teachers said that the impact on their student’s vocabulary development will be significant
68% said that those under 7 will be most affected

Sign up to be a Word Gap Partner School using the primary and secondary links below and receive our NEW REPORT focusing on primary to secondary school transition and the impact of recent closures, coming Autumn 2020.

See below our wealth of resources to support you in closing the word gap in your school, including resources to share with parents and carers at home.

*Teacher poll conducted by Oxford University Press with the Educational Research Forum

Primary schools

Secondary schools

Find out more and help to close the Word Gap

Close the Word Gap with the Oxford Language Report

Oxford Language Report - an overview

Coffee and Word Gap

Find support and tips to combat the word gap among early learners in our short video

Why closing the word gap matters

The word gap in UK Primary schools

The word gap in UK secondary schools

How does the word gap affect pupils' life chances?

A practical guide to closing the word gap

Closing the word gap with reading for pleasure

Helping to close the word gap

Early years and primary language resources

Word Sparks

We’ve combined 300 ambitious words to help children succeed in school with fully-decodable books that help you match your phonics teaching and reading practice, while inspiring and engaging your young readers.

Nuffield Early Language Intervention

Address the word gap right at the very start with this 20-week programme for children in their first year of primary school who show weakness in their oral language skills

Read Write Inc. Phonics

Reading and writing right from the start

Oxford Levels

Our Oxford Levels system means you can accurately match children to the right book, and are correlated with the Oxford Reading Criterion Scale so you can assess and identify next steps

Oxford Owl

Oxford Owl is packed with the tools and expert advice you need for monitoring progress and motivating your children

PX Code

Proven reading intervention for children in Years 2–4 who are a year or more behind in their word reading

Oxford Children's Dictionaries

Encourage a love of words and language with our range of dictionaries, thesauruses and free online resources specially compiled to meet the demands of the school curriculum

Numicon

This concrete-pictorial-abstract approach encourages children to explore maths using structured imagery and apparatus in order to understand and explain mathematical concepts.