Independent study of book reading habits among British and Irish children, at both primary and secondary levels.
What kids are reading
Synopsis
This is a study of the detailed reading habits of 963,678 pupils in 4,364 schools across the UK, at both primary and secondary levels. Between 2016 and 2017, students read 18,044,078 books.
The study concludes that when children are in primary school, they read books that really challenge them. However, once they reach secondary school the level of difficulty doesn't change much. Secondary school students tend to read books which are also read by upper primary students. This suggests that secondary school students are not challenging themselves enough – and their reading comprehension may be suffering as a result.