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Audiobooks and literacy

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Almost half (47.3%) of children and young people now listen to audiobooks or podcasts whilst more than a quarter of children and young people say listening to audio sparks their interest in reading books.

These findings come from our 2026 research into audio which highlights, amongst other benefits, audio’s role as a gateway to reading.

The research taken from our Annual Literacy Survey of 110,114 children and young people aged 8 to 18 and 3,000 parents and carers of children aged 5 to 18, show that audio has become a regular feature of children’s everyday lives.

Understanding how children and young people engage with audio offers an important window into both their media habits and their wider literacy lives. In the digital age, we can see how audio has increasingly become a growing part of how children and young people learn, relax and explore the world.

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What are some of the benefits of listening to audio?

Listening to audiobooks and podcasts can:

  • Validate listener’s choice

    Listening to audio is already a staple in many children and young people's lives. This engagement is largely driven by the choice of content available that is relevant to their lives, interests and hobbies.

  • Can offer a way to reach those least engaged with traditional reading

    Audio can be a gateway into print or digital reading, with over a quarter of children saying it sparks their interest in books. Podcasts in particular resonate with boys and teenagers. Podcast listening is strongly linked with learning about issues they care about (31.3%) and exploring topics that feel relevant to their life or hobbies (32.3%).

  • Audio is associated with a range of literacy, learning and personal experiences

    In fact, 46.5% commented that it helped them learn new words or new things. The same percentage stated it enabled them to understand other people's views (46.5%) and nearly half (44.3%) said they felt happy when they listened. Whilst over half of the children and young people said they listen to relax (58.4%)

  • Create shared experiences and connection

    For families, audiobooks are woven into everyday routines, with many parents saying that listening to audiobooks together helps strengthen their bond (63.2%), relax as a family, and feel more involved in their child’s interests.

Read the 2026 audio research in full

Audio as a powerful tool

Audio is a powerful tool for engaging children and young people with stories and information, sitting alongside reading print and digital content as a way to develop a love of stories, knowledge, and language.

Multimodal reading is embedded into the National Year of Reading campaign, and the National Literacy Trust is calling for the government to recognise multimodal reading – including audio – as a core part of the forthcoming Curriculum and Assessment Review implementation, making literacy education more accessible, inclusive, and reflective of the ways young people engage with language today.

Resources supporting audio

We have published a series of resources for parents and schools to help explore the world of audiobooks.

Programmes and training with audio elements

We’ve been working with partners including Audible, Penguin Random House, National Prison Radio and Fun Kids to include audio elements in many of our projects.

Research on audio

Explore our research on children, young people and adults' engagement with audiobooks and podcasts.