A new report by a charity has revealed that the decline in reading for pleasure among children and young people across the South West continues.
According to the National Literacy Trust, its research indicates that the region is following a worrying national trend.
These findings, the charity says, shed light on both the challenges and possible routes out of crisis in Swindon, where the National Literacy Trust has been working to improve literacy levels since 2018.
With local teams on the ground, the charity works in partnership with community organisations, schools, and local businesses, to encourage reading for pleasure.
Against this backdrop, there is strong evidence that the charity’s ambitious, community-led programme, Connecting Stories – which also delivers in Swindon – is having a positive impact on attainment in the high-priority schools where the charity works most intensively. Key Stage 2 results for combined Reading, Writing and Maths in these schools have increased significantly between 2022 and 2024, with pupils catching up with their national peers.
Against this backdrop, there is strong evidence that the charity’s ambitious, community-led programme, Connecting Stories – which also delivers in Swindon – is having a positive impact on attainment in the high-priority schools where the charity works most intensively. Key Stage 2 results for combined Reading, Writing and Maths in these schools have increased significantly between 2022 and 2024, with pupils catching up with their national peers.
National Literacy Trust Chief Executive Jonathan Douglas said: “This year’s data is once again stark. We are witnessing the lowest levels of reading enjoyment and daily reading in a generation – a critical challenge for literacy, wellbeing, and life chances.
"Children’s futures are being put at risk and joining forces across sectors to address the reading for pleasure crisis is essential.”
“But our research also offers hope. Young people are still motivated to read when it connects to their interests, when they have choice, and when it feels relevant to their lives. We must meet young readers where they are – emotionally, culturally and digitally – if we are to reignite a love of reading across the UK.”
“But our research also offers hope. Young people are still motivated to read when it connects to their interests, when they have choice, and when it feels relevant to their lives. We must meet young readers where they are – emotionally, culturally and digitally – if we are to reignite a love of reading across the UK.”
The data shows that both children's and young people’s reading enjoyment and daily reading frequency have fallen to their lowest levels since the charity began tracking them 20 years ago.
However, the charity says its largest ever survey - of 114,970 children and young people from across the UK - into the reading motivations of 8-18-year-olds offer a window into what might re-engage those with the lowest levels of reading enjoyment.
Just one in three (32.7 percent) children and young people aged 8 to 18 nationally said they enjoyed reading 'very much' or 'quite a lot' in 2025 – a slight drop from the previous year, but part of a much longer decline. Compared to 2005, this marks a 36 percent drop in reading enjoyment.
In the South West, 32.3 percent children and young people aged 8 to 18 said they enjoyed reading in their free time.
Just one in three (32.7 percent) children and young people aged 8 to 18 nationally said they enjoyed reading 'very much' or 'quite a lot' in 2025 – a slight drop from the previous year, but part of a much longer decline. Compared to 2005, this marks a 36 percent drop in reading enjoyment.
In the South West, 32.3 percent children and young people aged 8 to 18 said they enjoyed reading in their free time.
The charity says the key points from its research are:
- This year’s reading for pleasure decline has been especially steep among primary-aged children and boys, with boys aged 11 to 16 seeing the sharpest drop; children eligible for free school meals (FSMs) also report lower levels of enjoyment (31 percent) than their peers (33 percent).
- For reading frequency, just 18.7 percent of 8-18-year-olds said they read something daily in their free time in 2025 – half the number reading daily 20 years ago. Even among younger children aged 5 to 8, daily reading rates dropped by 3.4 percentage points in the past year to 44.5 percent.
- Girls continue to read daily at higher rates than boys, with the gender gap widening to 6.2 percentage points – the largest seen since 2023. More children not receiving FSMs read daily (19.4 percent) than those who receive FSMs (15.8 percent).
- While more girls read for wellbeing and emotional support, more boys leaned toward reading to connect with causes or the wider world. Reading to build knowledge and skills was equally strong across genders.
- Children and young people who report low levels of reading enjoyment, though less engaged, still recognise reading’s educational value - nearly half said it helps them learn new words or new things. However, reading for wellbeing or to connect with causes are far less common for this group, suggesting these are weaker drivers of engagement.
To support children and young people with the lowest levels of reading enjoyment, the report findings suggest a need to align reading with their personal interests and media habits:
- Two in five said they were more motivated to read when the material related to a favourite film or TV series or that matched their interests or hobbies.
- Three in 10 were drawn in by an interesting book cover or title.
- One in four valued having the freedom to choose what they read.
- One in five were inspired by reading recommendations from friends, family, or teachers.
Even among those who say they don’t enjoy reading, many still choose to read song lyrics, news articles, fiction, comics and fan fiction in their free time, which the charity says highlights how it might re-engage this group with reading.
Half of children and young people still read fiction or short stories in print each month, with two in five reading non-fiction books. Comics and graphic novels and magazines also remain popular choices in this format. Digital formats dominated in other categories, with song lyrics and news articles mostly read on screens.
There is a known link between reading for pleasure and reading skills, wellbeing, empathy, confidence, and aptitude for learning, with children and young people who enjoy reading in their free time being twice as likely to have above average reading skills.
There is also a link between reading for pleasure and benefits to the UK economy. Previous research found that if all school-aged children in the UK read for pleasure every day, the number getting five good GCSEs by the age of 16 could increase by 1.1m within 30 years, boosting their average lifetime earning potential by £57,500 and adding £4.6bn to the UK’s GDP each year.
- Two in five said they were more motivated to read when the material related to a favourite film or TV series or that matched their interests or hobbies.
- Three in 10 were drawn in by an interesting book cover or title.
- One in four valued having the freedom to choose what they read.
- One in five were inspired by reading recommendations from friends, family, or teachers.
Even among those who say they don’t enjoy reading, many still choose to read song lyrics, news articles, fiction, comics and fan fiction in their free time, which the charity says highlights how it might re-engage this group with reading.
Half of children and young people still read fiction or short stories in print each month, with two in five reading non-fiction books. Comics and graphic novels and magazines also remain popular choices in this format. Digital formats dominated in other categories, with song lyrics and news articles mostly read on screens.
There is a known link between reading for pleasure and reading skills, wellbeing, empathy, confidence, and aptitude for learning, with children and young people who enjoy reading in their free time being twice as likely to have above average reading skills.
There is also a link between reading for pleasure and benefits to the UK economy. Previous research found that if all school-aged children in the UK read for pleasure every day, the number getting five good GCSEs by the age of 16 could increase by 1.1m within 30 years, boosting their average lifetime earning potential by £57,500 and adding £4.6bn to the UK’s GDP each year.
The National Literacy Trust therefore calls for a multi-sector approach to solve the reading for pleasure crisis and address the long-term educational, social and economic effects of low levels of reading enjoyment. It says charities, libraries, businesses, schools, communities, and government must join forces to grow a generation of readers.
The charity continues its commitment, over three years, to directly support and empower 1.5m more children and young people from disadvantaged communities to read for pleasure. This includes ensuring every primary school has a dedicated library or reading space by 2028 through its Libraries for Primaries campaign and supporting young families with children aged up to five through its Early Words Matter campaign, which champions the crucial role of stories, songs and shared book experiences in building early language and emotional bonds that form the bedrock of future reading enjoyment and success.
In response to England’s ongoing Curriculum and Assessment Review, the charity has also called for a culture of reading for pleasure to be embedded into all levels of the education system.
A range of free resources to help families, teachers and businesses encourage children’s reading can be found at literacytrust.org.uk/reading-
The charity continues its commitment, over three years, to directly support and empower 1.5m more children and young people from disadvantaged communities to read for pleasure. This includes ensuring every primary school has a dedicated library or reading space by 2028 through its Libraries for Primaries campaign and supporting young families with children aged up to five through its Early Words Matter campaign, which champions the crucial role of stories, songs and shared book experiences in building early language and emotional bonds that form the bedrock of future reading enjoyment and success.
In response to England’s ongoing Curriculum and Assessment Review, the charity has also called for a culture of reading for pleasure to be embedded into all levels of the education system.
A range of free resources to help families, teachers and businesses encourage children’s reading can be found at literacytrust.org.uk/reading-
The National Literacy Trust’s Annual Literacy Survey is supported by education company Twinkl.
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