Annual Literacy Survey

Now in its sixteenth year, the National Literacy Trust’s Annual Literacy Survey (ALS) explores children and young people’s literacy behaviours, attitudes and enjoyment.

We started asking children and young people aged 5 to 18 about their literacy attitudes, behaviour, and confidence in 2005, and by 2010, the online survey had become an annual occurrence conducted in hundreds of schools and settings across the UK.

Why is the Annual Literacy Survey significant?

Providing a comprehensive literacy survey, the Annual Literacy Survey's findings provide a vital and consistent national measure of children’s literacy, allowing us to track annual trends in reading, writing, speaking and listening.

This data also provides an essential evidence base which underpins our organisation’s strategy and informs all of the National Literacy Trust’s programmatic work, wider research and policy approaches.

Since we started publishing reports on the Annual Literacy Survey, we have seen increasing recognition of the importance of reading for pleasure in policymaking and pedagogy, with regular citation of our findings in government guidance as well as inclusion within inspection frameworks. Our reports also receive attention in the media and help to start national conversations.

With over 15 annual surveys under our belt, and 2025’s survey providing our largest bank of data so far (an incredible 114,970 children and young people aged 5 to 18 took part), we are ready to look ahead to 2026 to discover what the reading, writing, speaking and listening trends and data reveal.