How Can Schools Help Children Want to Read?

A child can complete a reading assignment successfully and still rarely choose a book outside class. Another wants to join a conversation about a story but finds the text difficult to access. Both students need adults who are interested in their reading lives as well as their results.

Encouraging reading for pleasure involves attention to skill, opportunity, interests, and relationships. Students need effective reading instruction and access to material that gives them a reason to keep reading. Schools and families can work on those conditions together.

Understand the current picture carefully

The National Literacy Trust's 2026 survey provides a useful international perspective. Among surveyed UK children aged 8–18, 36.1% said they enjoyed reading in their free time, up from 32.7% in 2025. Daily free-time reading also increased slightly, although engagement remained below earlier levels.

The encouraging change deserves recognition. It also invites schools to ask a local question: what do our students say about reading, and which experiences help them find it worthwhile? A national trend cannot answer that question for a particular class.

The survey drew on 125,375 children and young people aged 5–18 in 479 UK schools; the enjoyment figures above refer to those aged 8–18. These self-reported findings should not be presented as US prevalence estimates or as proof that one activity causes greater enjoyment. Local student conversations and reading assessments remain important.

Connect reading with interests

An interest in animals, sport, architecture, music, or a favourite character can provide an entry into reading. A librarian or teacher can help a student find a text that connects with that interest and matches an appropriate level of support.

Choice should be informed rather than abandoned to chance. Some children need help finding the next book after a familiar series. Others may enjoy nonfiction, graphic novels, poems, or short articles. Those preferences can open conversations about the kinds of reading students want to explore.

Adults can offer recommendations without treating a child's current taste as a failure. Reading confidence and breadth can develop through thoughtful guidance and access to increasingly varied material.

Find out what is making reading difficult

Reluctance can have several explanations. A student may struggle with decoding, fluency, vocabulary, comprehension, or the background knowledge a text assumes. Another may have the skills but little access to appealing material or a quiet opportunity to read.

Guidance on reading in secondary students highlights the need to consider proficiency, behaviour, and motivation together. Reading needs can persist or emerge as the demands of school texts change.

Teachers should avoid interpreting every hesitation as a lack of effort. Appropriate assessment and support can clarify which part of reading requires attention. Access arrangements should help students participate while their particular needs are addressed.

Make reading visible and social

A teacher's brief recommendation, a thoughtful read-aloud, or a conversation between peers can give a book a place in school life. Students can explain what interested them without having to produce a formal review every time.

Schools can examine whether their libraries and classroom collections are welcoming, accessible, and known to students. Protected opportunities to read are more useful when learners can find suitable material and receive help when needed.

The adult role is to make the invitation credible: there are things here worth discovering, someone can help you find them, and your response matters.

A useful first conversation can be brief: what have you enjoyed reading recently, what did you abandon, and what would you like help finding? A student might select two possible texts with a librarian, try each, and discuss which one invited them to continue. Home access matters too. A recommendation is more useful when the child can actually borrow the text and use any required accessibility support.

Work with families in manageable ways

Families can talk about what they are reading, share a short text, visit a library where accessible, or invite a child to choose something connected with an interest. Advice should account for time, language, access, and different home circumstances.

Reading becomes part of a life through repeated opportunities and experiences. What could help a child in your community find a text they want to return to?

Illustrative image generated with AI.