Effective science communication is essential for modern microbiologists, especially as public understanding increasingly shapes global health outcomes. Yet, traditional curricula often emphasize technical skills over communication, leaving students lacking lay communication competency. In our Medical Microbiology MSc at the University of Manchester, we introduced an assessment where students designed an outreach activity and lay poster, to deliver to the general public, communicating key microbiological concepts.    Students were given a questionnaire pre and post completion of the assessment to evaluate the benefit of this type of assessment to communication skills. The questions evaluated students understanding of lay language and their confidence in communicating science to the public, using either yes/no questions or ratings on a scale from 1-5. Roughly 70% and 50% of students completed the pre- and post-assessment evaluation respectively.    65% of our students had not previously participated in an outreach activity. Number of students with high confidence in their communication skills didn’t differ greatly pre- and post-assessment (rating >3), but the number of student rating confidence at 1 or 2 did reduce post-assessment. All students were aware what lay language meant post-assessment (100%), compared to 58% pre-assessment. An increase in the number of students reporting high confidence in communicating using lay language was also observed (84% pre vs 100% post, rating >3).   This assessment highlights the value of integrating science communication into microbiology education, particularly in improving students’ confidence and ability to use lay language.