Research into Practice: Write your way

Introducing Write your way: empowering young voices

This research-informed resource is designed to help you understand the latest findings on writing attitudes and behaviours among children and young people aged 5 to 18, and discover fun ways to explore and inspire writing for pleasure through classroom activities.

Research and context

The National Literacy Trust's latest Children and Young People's Writing report has revealed that children and young people's engagement in writing for enjoyment continues to decline. In findings from our Annual Literacy Survey 2025, our research shows that:

• Only 1 in 4 (26.6%) children and young people aged 8 to 18 said that they enjoy writing in their free time.
• Levels of writing enjoyment have almost halved over the past 15 years, decreasing by 20.2 percentage points since 2010.
• Enjoyment levels dropped for all children and young people in 2025, but the decline was particularly pronounced for primary-aged children, with enjoyment in this group dropping by 6 percentage points over the last year.
• Continuing a 15-year trend, more children and young people receiving free school meals (FSMs) enjoyed writing than their non-FSM peers (31.1% vs 25.0%).

However, despite this worrying decline in writing for pleasure, many children and young people see themselves as capable writers, and stated that their main motivations for writing include creativity, emotional expression and curiosity. Having more autonomy and choosing their own topics or formats is especially motivating, as is responding to inspiring prompts or writing about personal experiences.

It is encouraging to note that even children and young people who are less engaged with their writing still mention practical or reflective reasons to write.

Using our resource

We've written this Research into Practice: Write your way - empowering young voices resource to help you delve into the research findings and discover insights that can be used to address the decline. You'll find practical ideas and activities that you can apply in the classroom to spark new interest in writing for pleasure, helping to unlock the benefits for your students.

The resource includes:

• an overview of our writing findings from the Annual Literacy Survey 2025
• key takeaways for education practitioners, to help put research into practice
• activities for ages 5 to 18, inspired by insights provided by children and young people's responses.

Find more support for writing

Be sure to visit our Writing for pleasure strategies for schools and teachers page to discover more of our programes, training, and resources that you can access to build a writing culture in your school.