Search

This report builds on National Literacy Trust's previous research from the 2024 Annual Literacy Survey to investigate how children and young people felt about writing in early 2024. It includes findings on how many enjoyed writing and how often they wrote in their free time, what motivated them to write, and what they wrote. This report is based on 76,131 responses from children and young people aged 5 to 18 in schools across the UK in early 2024 and explores responses by age, gender, socioeconomic background, and geographical region. Findings show that children and young people's enjoyment of writing, and frequency of writing in their free time, is at an unprecedented low. Increasing evidence of a long-term downward trend calls for urgent action to reconnect children and young people with writing that promotes connection with creativity, self-expression and mental wellbeing.

The value of school libraries is well-established, with reviews and studies worldwide highlighting the impact on children and young people's academic achievement and literacy outcomes. Yet, it is still not a statutory requirement for schools to have a school library or school library system. As such, there are no official figures as to the number or proportion of schools that have a school library or school librarian in the UK. This report provides an up-to-date picture of school libraries at both primary and secondary schools in the UK. It focuses on what is known about the extent of current school library provision, the evidence of the need for further support of school libraries, and the impact that school libraries can have on children and young people.