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Research

Teachers and reading, writing and whole-school literacy in 2023

Added 02 May 2024 | Updated 08 May 24

teachers around table

Supporting teachers in delivering literacy outcomes has never been more important, and key to that is understanding their approaches and experiences.

Key findings from our Annual Literacy Survey 2023

In 2023, alongside our Annual Literacy Survey for children and young people, we conducted a survey of 1,535 teachers from across different settings, mostly primary and secondary, and across all levels of seniority and expertise. Our findings are outlined in three reports: reading, writing, and whole-school literacy.

Key findings from the three reports

Reading

  • Nearly 9 in 10 (85.8%) teachers said they enjoyed reading but just over three quarters (76.9%) did so at least once a week.
  • 3 in 4 (75.6%) teachers said that the culture of reading for pleasure in their school was good or excellent
  • More teachers who said they enjoyed reading enjoyed teaching reading (67.6% vs 42.3%) and felt confident teaching reading (66.5% vs 44.4%) compared with teachers who didn’t enjoy reading.

Writing

  • Far fewer teachers enjoyed writing (56.2%) than reading (85.8%).
  • Open-ended comments suggested that time was a barrier for teachers when it came to writing for pleasure in their own time.
  • More teachers who enjoyed writing enjoy teaching writing (71.7% vs 43%) and are confident teaching writing (72.8% vs 48.5) compared with those who don’t enjoy writing

Whole-school literacy

  • 9 in 10 (92.1%) teachers across all subjects thought it was their job to teach literacy.
  • 1 in 4 (24.5%) teachers in secondary settings felt that teaching literacy reduced time for other things compared with just 1 in 6 (16.4%) in primary settings.
  • More than 4 in 5 (84.6%) teachers said that literacy was embedded in their classroom practice, although this was higher for primary teachers (94.2%) than secondary (81.3%).
  • Only 2 in 5 (41.3%) teaching assistants said they had received training in embedding literacy in their subject.
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