These reports, co-authored by Christina Clark and Irene Picton from the National Literacy Trust and Katherine Wilkinson from Scottish Book Trust, outline findings from our 2023 Annual Literacy Survey, with a focus on Scottish children and young people’s reading and writing enjoyment, frequency and attitudes.
The reports are based on 1,141 responses to our Annual Literacy Survey from children and young people aged 8 to 18 in schools in Scotland in early 2023.
Key findings
Reading enjoyment:
- Just over 2 in 5 (41.5%) children and young people aged 8 to 18 in Scotland said they enjoyed reading in their free time in 2023. This means that nearly 3 in 5 (58.5%) did not enjoy reading.
- A slightly higher percentage of children and young people aged 8 to 18 said they enjoyed reading in their free time (41.4%) than reading at school (39.7%).
Daily reading in free time:
- More than 1 in 4 (27.1%) children and young people aged 8 to 18 in Scotland said they read daily or almost daily in their free time in 2023.
Reading motivation:
- When asked what would make them want to read, most (40.7%, or 2 in 5) said that having books recommended to them would do this. 1 in 3 said that having books that represent them (33.8%) or being given books (33.1%) would make them want to read.
Writing enjoyment:
- 1 in 3 (32.5%) children and young people aged 8 to 18 in Scotland said they enjoyed writing in their free time in 2023, meaning 2 in 3 (67.5%) did not enjoy writing.
- More children and young people said they enjoyed writing at school than enjoyed writing in their free time (40.3% vs. 32.5%).
Daily writing in free time:
- 1 in 5 (19.3%) children and young people told us they wrote something daily in their free time.
- While overall, 1 in 2 (50.4%) told us that they wrote at least once a week in their free time, 1 in 4 (25.9%) said they rarely or never wrote.
Writing motivation:
- 1 in 2 children and young people say that they write to be creative (47.6%), while around 2 in 5 write to express their ideas and imagination (41.9%) or their thoughts and feelings (37.9%).
- Writing continues to support children and young people’s mental wellbeing, with 1 in 4 (25.9%) saying that writing helped them relax, while 1 in 5 (19.1%) said writing helped them feel confident.
Reading and writing for pleasure can have a wealth of positive effects, supporting mental wellbeing, attainment, self-expression and creativity. With this in mind, it is imperative that we continue our work in Scotland so that more children and young people develop the love of reading and writing that will support them in accessing these vital benefits.