Reading should be a joy, a portal to other worlds, a way to stretch the imagination and find solace in the pages of a book. But children's reading habits have shifted: for more than half of young people in the UK, something that should be a pleasure, is now seen as a chore—as something that they simply don’t enjoy doing in their spare time. This is the stark reality revealed by a survey from the National Literacy Trust (NLT) last year, which found that 56% of eight to 18-year-olds don’t enjoy reading outside of school. Even more concerning, this figure rises to 60% among children from disadvantaged backgrounds, where the importance of literacy and reading for pleasure cannot be overstated.
These statistics should be a wake-up call for everyone—teachers, parents, policymakers, and society at large. But why are our children falling out of love with reading? As someone who has spent years teaching English and discussing these issues with fellow teachers, I believe the answer lies not only in broader societal changes but also in how we approach reading in schools.
The Problem with Targets and Exams: How They Impact Children's Reading Habits
Over the past decade, the teaching of English in schools has become increasingly targets-driven. The pressure to meet exam requirements has transformed the way we teach literature. Instead of fostering a love of reading, we’re now often forced to treat books as mere tools to pass an exam. This approach strips the joy out of the reading experience. Books are no longer an escape or a source of pleasure—they’re just another means to an end.
Imagine being a teenager and having to memorise countless quotations for a closed-book exam. The joy of reading is lost when it’s boiled down to a formulaic exercise: six or seven PETAL (Point, Evidence, Technique, Analysis, Link) paragraphs, devoid of any true engagement with the text. When reading becomes a task to be ticked off a list rather than a journey to be savoured, is it any wonder that children switch off?
The Dissecting of Texts
Beyond exam texts, other reading materials are often presented in fragmented ways. Extracts are dissected for their language features, divorced from the rich context that gives them meaning. Even when students are given whole books to read, the experience is often marred by endless short-form questions or tasks like “write a diary entry as one of the characters.” These activities can feel like busy work rather than an invitation to explore and connect with the story.
In many schools, the pressure to start GCSE English early—often halfway through Year 9—only exacerbates the problem. With so much syllabus to get through, there’s little time to pause and simply enjoy a book for what it is. The text is always a means to an end, and that end is passing an exam, not discovering the magic of a well-told story.
A Call for Change
This approach isn’t just killing the love of reading—it’s failing our children, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds who may not have access to books at home or a quiet space to read. The NLT’s research indicates that children who don’t enjoy reading in their free time are more likely to find some enjoyment when reading at school, especially if they have support from role models and access to books that represent them. But this enjoyment will only flourish if we change how we approach reading in the classroom.
Martin Galway from the NLT highlighted the potential impact of the government’s revised reading framework, which places a greater emphasis on reading for enjoyment. This is a step in the right direction, but it’s not enough. We need to overhaul the way we teach English, moving away from the relentless focus on targets and exams and towards a model that puts the joy of reading back at the heart of education.
The Role of Everyone—Teachers, Parents, Authors, and Publishers
As Francesca Simon, the author of the beloved Horrid Henry series, aptly put it, we cannot let a generation of children miss out on the benefits of reading. The task isn’t just for schools—authors, publishers, and families all have a role to play. We need to ensure that every child has access to books that speak to them, spaces where they can read, or be read to, without distraction, and opportunities to fall in love with stories.
This is more than just an educational issue; it’s a cultural one. A society that does not nurture a love of reading is a society that risks losing its imagination, empathy, and ability to think critically. It’s time we gave children the space and support to discover the pleasure of reading for themselves—not as a task to be completed but as a lifelong companion that will enrich their lives in ways that no exam ever could.
Comments