We have always seen Oriel Square as an integral partner for educational publishers: this is the industry we thrive in and are passionate about. So we were delighted that Oxford University Press (OUP) chose Oriel Square to produce the first Oxford Language Report.
Project background
Research undertaken by OUP confirmed that the word gap can be present throughout a child’s education and beyond.
The first Oxford Language Report drew on research that highlighted the issue of the “word gap” and what successful schools have done to address it. The term “word gap” is typically used to refer to children in Early Years settings or pupils entering primary school with a vocabulary far below age-related expectations. However, research undertaken by OUP confirmed that the word gap can be present throughout a child’s education and beyond.
What we delivered
Working with internal teams at OUP, we produced this high-quality report and published it within a tight time period (about 6 weeks from kick-off to completion).
The report gained widespread media coverage and engagement from education policy-makers keen to help close the word gap.
Applying Oriel Square’s expertise in educational publishing, we guided the project from its development stages through to its completion. We facilitated OUP’s project discussions by chairing project meetings, allowing the team to develop the report’s narrative and concluding position with efficiency. We then oversaw the publishing process, taking it through editorial and design and delivering in time for their award-winning publicity campaign.
The teams at OUP and Oriel Square were all delighted with the result: widespread coverage in the media of this important issue, and engagement from education policy-makers and influencers keen to help close the word gap.
Media coverage
- Teachers in UK report growing ‘vocabulary deficiency’, The Guardian
- Narrow vocabulary ‘hits pupils’ grades’, BBC News
- ‘Word gap’ stifles pupils’ progress, warns OUP, The Bookseller
Why work with us
1 Because we stay up to date with educational policy and research, we can read into the project and get up to speed quickly.
2We know the best people in education so we can identify specialist publishers, editors, writers, designers and researchers to form a credible team that will complement in-house expertise.
3Our experience working with senior teams in educational publishing means we can facilitate the approval process to get agreement from in-house experts with different priorities.