Literacy - Facts and Figures
Reading has become the subject of many studies in recent years, as the link between a child’s ability to and enjoyment of reading and their academic success and future achievements continues to grow. Please see the following sites and documents for more detail and information about the link between reading and achievement and life chances.
Read On. Get On, National Literacy Trust, 2014
The impact of reading for pleasure and empowerment, The Reading Agency, 2015
The Economic & Social Cost of Illiteracy, World Literacy Foundation, 2015
Literacy Changes Lives, National Literacy Trust, 2014
In summary of some of the information contained in the documents above, here is a list of some of the more profound and important facts and figures relating to the link between reading and achievement and life chances:
• 1 in 5 children leave primary school unable to read at age related standards (National Literacy Trust, 2014)
• 25% of students aged 15 have a reading age of 12 or below. (GL Assessment 2020)
• At least one in six adults in the UK has a literacy level which is below that expected of an 11-year-old. (National Literacy Trust, 2014)
• 63% of men and 75% of women with very low literacy skills have never received a promotion (National Literacy Trust, 2008)
• 37% of businesses are dissatisfied with young people’s literacy skills and use of English. (Inspiring Growth: CBI/Pearson Education and Skills Survey, 2015)
• Poorer physical health and mental wellbeing are associated with poor literacy. (National Literacy Trust, 2008)
• An illiterate adult will earn at least 30 per cent less than someone who can read. (World Literacy Foundation, 2012)
• Illiteracy costs the UK £81billion per year, through lost earnings, government welfare and health care. (World Literacy Foundation, 2012)
• Readers need to understand 95% of the words in a text in order to make sense of what is read. (Quigley, Closing the Vocabulary Gap, 2018)
• Children of all backgrounds who were read to regularly by their parents at age five performed better in maths, vocabulary and spelling at age 16 than those who were not read to. (Social inequalities in cognitive scores at age 16: the role of reading, 2013)
• A child’s reading ability has as much of an influence on their achievement in science, history, maths and geography as it does in English. (GL Assessment, 2020)