1 in 4 children leave primary school struggling to read, putting them at greater risk of unemployment and poor mental health. In the National Year of Reading, Bookmark is expanding their literacy support, ensuring more children can develop the skills, confidence and joy to become lifelong readers.
Categories
Beneficiaries
In 2026, only 36.1% of children enjoy reading in their free time, and 1 in 7 primary schools do not have a library or reading space. At the same time, 1 in 3 children from disadvantaged communities do not meet the expected reading standard, and only 10% of these children will go on to pass their Maths and English GCSEs. As this disadvantage gap continues to grow, those most in need of support are being left behind, making early, targeted literacy intervention more urgent than ever.
Bookmark is addressing this challenge by delivering structured one-to-one reading support. These sessions are provided by our trained volunteers and Session Delivery Executives, who have already delivered over 50,000 sessions this academic year. The EEF cites one-to-one tuition as one of the most effective ways to accelerate reading progress, and this is reflected in our impact, with children in one school making an average of 5 years 11 months progress in reading accuracy in just one year.