Tackling the UK's childhood literacy problem with reading support

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Why are we needed?

One quarter of all children left primary school last year unable to read well. These children are at a disadvantage because they are unable to access their secondary education properly, and this has lifelong consequences.

In 2025, one in four primary school children in England failed to reach the expected standard of reading when leaving primary school.

These children are unable to fully access their secondary education, which has lifelong negative consequences. Poor literacy will have a negative impact on children’s future education and will therefore limit their future opportunities.

Poor Literacy is a major factor behind many societal problems, such as homelessness, poor physical and mental health, and even criminality. (57% of prisoners were assessed as having the literacy skills expected of an 11 year old.)

If child illiteracy is not addressed this can lead naturally to adult illiteracy. Unfortunately, 1 in 6 (6.6 million) adults in England are classed as functionally illiterate. This means that they cannot read a medicine packet, a bus timetable, or fill in a job application.

Children who have above expected reading skills are times more likely to have high levels of mental wellbeing than their peers with below expected reading skills.

One of the key reasons that children are not learning to read is that they are getting insufficient one-to-one reading time with an adult.

In 2025 only one in three children and young people reported that they do not enjoy reading in their free time, the lowest levels since 2005, and fewer than one in five read daily in their free time.

Moreover, less than half of parents of primary school children read regularly to their children every night.