The National Literacy Trust Annual Literacy Survey 2024 reveals a growing interest in audio amongst children and young people aged 8 to 18. This provides educators with an exciting opportunity to use listening and audio in the classroom, especially as a form of extended study or reading for pleasure.
This resource explores our Annual Literacy Trust survey findings on audio, and provides practical activities for embedding audiobooks and podcasts into curriculum teaching.
The resource includes:
- an overview of our audio findings from the Annual Literacy Survey 2024
- key takeaways for education practitioners, to help put research into practice
- six activities for ages 5 to 18, inspired by research findings
- a list of podcasts and audiobooks for ages 2 to 18.
For the first time, more children and young people enjoyed listening to audio (e.g. audiobooks and podcasts) in their free time than reading since we started asking about listening in 2020.
Clark,C. and Picton, I. (2025) Children and young peoples’ listening in 2024, London: National Literacy Trust