Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies of the findings of the National Literacy Trust’s report on ‘Children and young people’s reading in 2026’ relating to children’s reading enjoyment.

Reading for pleasure is hugely important and brings a wide range of benefits, from increased wellbeing, confidence and empathy to better vocabulary and aptitude for learning. That is why this government, in collaboration with our delivery partner, the National Literacy Trust (NLT), has declared 2026 the National Year of Reading (NYR), a UK-wide campaign to inspire a love of reading, combining a universal campaign with a targeted focus on priority groups who are least likely to read for pleasure. We are pleased to see that the NLT’s recent report shows children’s reading enjoyment increased in 2026 for the first time in five years.

Since the launch of NYR in January, the campaign has attracted significant attention and momentum, including 2.1 million children across the UK engaging in NYR events and activities, and over 6,000 schools and 11,000 teachers across the UK registering to get their schools involved in the NYR schools and settings offer, which includes exciting activities, resources, events and continuing professional development webinars.

This government has also committed £12.5 million to provide a library in every primary school in England by the end of this Parliament, alongside £5 million for secondary schools to purchase books and reading material to support reading for pleasure.