The Bookseller - News - National Literacy Trust calls for urgent action as children’s reading enjoyment at ‘record low’

The trust conducted its latest Annual Literacy Survey between January and the middle of March 2023. It was composed of two surveys: one for children aged five to eight, and one for children and young people aged eight to 18. Overall, 71,351 children and young people aged from 285 schools in the UK participated in the online survey.

Of those aged eight to 18, over half (57%) said they did not enjoy reading with enjoyment, "the lowest level of reading enjoyment we have recorded since we began asking children and young people this question in 2005," and down 15.2 percentage points from its height in 2016 (43.4% in 2023 compared to 58.6% in 2016).

Moreover, reading for enjoyment - along with reading levels at school and overall literacy skills - was found to be weakest for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Fewer children who received free school meals said they enjoyed reading in their free time in 2023 compared with those who didn't receive free school meals (39.5% compared to 43.8%).