The annual ‘What Kids Are Reading Report’, a study of over 1.2 million pupils across the UK and Ireland from leading edtech provider, Renaissance, shows a 4.4% year-on-year decrease in the number of books being read by children from Year 1 to Year 11.

For the last 16 years, the report has tracked the book-reading habits of the nation’s pupils, and this is the first time, outside of the first year of the pandemic, there has been a decline in the number of books read since research began in 2008. 26,114,262 books were read by 1,273,795 pupils in the 2022-2023 academic year[1] compared to 27,265,657 by 1,282,647 pupils in the previous academic year[2].

The downturn in book reading echoes similar findings in declining reading attainment shown in longitudinal research[3] on post-pandemic learning recovery from Renaissance and the Educational Policy Institute (EPI). Additional research[4] from Renaissance and GL Assessment shows teachers believe a third (33%) of their pupils are weak readers and that children are struggling to keep up with the curriculum due to their reading ability. A quarter (26%) of pupils are taken out of class for reading support with, on average, half a day of curriculum time per week given to helping students read.

Secondary reading slump, but more reading time leads to higher attainment
Reading decline is particularly acute in secondary schools. The report finds that primary school pupils read harder books as they get older, but during secondary school there is a downturn, particularly from Year 9, with many secondary students reading books at a similar difficulty level to those of upper primary pupils.

Pupils read progressively more challenging books until Year 6, which then plateaus until Year 9 before a sharp drop in the difficulty of books being read by older secondary students. Pupils in primary schools also consistently showed a higher quality of comprehension when reading.

However, the research also confirms the link between more reading time in school with higher reading attainment. When considering Engaged Reading Time (ERT) and Cumulative Number of Words Read (see Figure 3), we see further evidence of the impact of the time spent reading – the more time is allocated to reading, the greater the number of words read, with the biggest gains occurring when ERT exceeds 30 minutes per day.

Additionally presented in the What Kids Are Reading report are findings from a survey[5] of 71,351 pupils by the National Literacy Trust (NLT). With these figures showing a 26% decrease in the number of children reading daily in their free time since 2005, time devoted to reading in the classroom is more important than ever. NLT data shows pupils’ enjoyment of reading in their free time at the lowest level since 2005 and is lowest among those receiving free school meals (39.5%) compared to those who don’t (43.8%).