Writing

Our research into writing covers behaviours, attitudes and skills of children and young people. We look at writing in every form and genre from poetry and lyrics to letters and essays, alongside its links with wellbeing and attainment in other areas.

Key statistics in writing

• 3 in 10 (28.7%) children and young people aged 8 to 18 said that they enjoy writing in their free time in 2024.
  • Levels of writing enjoyment have decreased by 18.1 percentage points since 2010, dropping by 5.9 percentage points over the past year alone.
  • Boys aged 5 to 8 showed a particularly large decline in writing enjoyment between 2023 and 2024, with levels decreasing by 11.9 percentage points.
    
• 1 in 9 (11.1%) children and young people told us that they wrote something daily in their free time in 2024.
  • Daily writing levels have halved over the past year, decreasing from 19.3% in 2023.
    
• 3 in 5 (59.1%) children and young people who wrote at least once a month said that they wrote to be creative, while 1 in 2 wrote to express their ideas and imagination (52.8%) or their thoughts and feelings (47.7%).
  • Writing continues to support children and young people’s mental wellbeing, with 2 in 5 (40.4%) children and young people saying that they wrote to relax and 1 1 in 3 (33.1%) wrote because it made them feel happy.