This week, Secretary of State for Education, Bridget Phillipson, announced that 2026 will be The National Year of Reading.
The Education Secretary is calling on parents to lead by example and make reading a daily habit to help reverse the decline in reading for pleasure, to help give kids the best start in life as part of the Plan for Change.
The call comes as the Department for Education and National Literacy Trust join forces to launch a National Year of Reading, starting in January 2026 to kick start a reading revolution. It will reverse the trend as just one in three aged 8 to 18 said they enjoyed reading in their free time in 2025.
Bringing together parents, schools, libraries, businesses and literacy experts, the campaign aims to foster a love of reading for pleasure in children and young people, ensuring all children get the best start in life.
Reading for pleasure isn’t just a hobby. It’s linked to a range of benefits including stronger writing skills, improved wellbeing and confidence, and even higher future earnings.
The Year will build on the action already underway to drive high and rising standards in literacy including investing £27.7 million to support the teaching of reading and writing in primary school and targeted support for struggling readers in secondary school, as well as the ongoing curriculum and assessment review.
The National Year of Reading campaign contributes to the government’s driving mission to break the link between a child’s background and what they go on to achieve and comes as the Education Secretary sets out her vision for ensuring every child gets the best possible start in life and starts school ready to learn including by boosting early literacy skills through the expansion of the government’s network of English Hubs.
Education Secretary, Bridget Phillipson said:
As someone whose love of reading was sparked in childhood, I know just how powerful books can be in shaping young lives.
Reading holds the keys to so much of children’s education, so the decline in reading for pleasure among young people should sound alarm bells loud and clear.
This can’t be just a government mission. It needs to be a national one. So, it’s time for all of us to play our part, put our phones down and pick up a book.
When parents take the time to read with their children early on, they lay the foundations for strong literacy skills, helping kids to be school ready. By making reading a daily habit, even just 10 minutes a day, we can help give kids the best start in life, as part of the Plan for Change.
To kick start the reading revolution this summer, the National Literacy Trust will distribute over 72,000 new books to children in areas with the highest rates of child poverty to support positive reading habits at home.
This comes during the Summer Reading Challenge to ensure more children have the opportunity to take part and build a love of reading over the break.
CEO of the National Literacy Trust, Jonathan Douglas, said:
At a time when we are witnessing the lowest levels of reading enjoyment and daily reading in a generation, we are delighted to be working with the government to deliver the National Year of Reading 2026 – a bold, society-wide campaign to reimagine how we understand, support and promote reading. Reading is the foundation of a successful life – the key to unlocking potential, strengthening social cohesion, enhancing wellbeing and boosting skills.
The National Year of Reading 2026 presents an opportunity to join forces across sectors and redefine reading as a powerful, contemporary activity for a generation. Working closely with schools, families, libraries, communities and partners across the country, we will make reading a shared national mission – because every child, no matter their background, deserves the best start in life and every adult deserves to get the best out of life.
The Books Council of Wales announced in June that it has been awarded a £849,860 grant over three years from Welsh Government Education Department to continue and develop its reading promotion activities.
The funding has been awarded to the Children’s Books and Reading Promotion Department, who run a wide range of campaigns and partnerships to celebrate books and promote reading for pleasure. These will include The Summer Reading Challenge, Teacher’s Love Reading, BookSlam & Nurturing a Community of Readers program.
The UK Education Secretary addressed businesses and leading literacy advocates this week (7 July 2025) at No.10 to rally further support ahead of the National Year of Reading.
Read more about the work of the National Literacy Trust and Books Council of Wales.