Literacy

The latest news, analysis and best practice advice when it comes to literacy, from recent research and how to implement it to new guidance and what it means

Wednesday

10th Dec 2025

£5m for secondary school libraries is a token gesture
Ahead of the Year of Reading in 2026, Professor Michael Green explains why far more funding is needed to make reading a core aspect of young people’s lives
Token gesture drop in the ocean

Tuesday

9th Dec 2025

Teacher numbers target missed - but headcount rises slightly
Teacher numbers in Scotland increased by 63 between 2024 and 2025, meaning the government has fallen short of its target to restore numbers to 2023 levels
Teacher numbers target missed – but headcount rises slightly

Thursday

4th Dec 2025

Why we need to rethink secondary reading assessment
Opportunities for teacher-led diagnostic assessments are being missed amid overreliance on reading ages and standardised reading tests, suggests Alex Quigley
Why we need to rethink secondary reading assessment

Wednesday

3rd Dec 2025

What the latest EAL pupil evidence means for schools
Diana Sutton from The Bell Foundation outlines some key insights from new research on pupils with English as an additional language
Flags of the world

Tuesday

25th Nov 2025

Why primary writing can’t be all about genre
It’s common to take a genre-driven approach to teaching writing at primary school, but this doesn’t work for all years, writes Katie Jenkins
Why primary writing can’t be all about genre

Monday

24th Nov 2025

Teachers warn Year 8 reading test will ‘sap joy’ from learning
High-stakes tests are piling pressure on to pupils and teachers and government policy risks entrenching an ‘exam factory’ culture, says teachers’ union
Teachers warn new Year 8 reading test will ‘sap joy’ from learning

Thursday

30th Oct 2025

How a trust-made toolkit is helping to raise reading levels
A ‘less is more’ reading toolkit that can be used with pupils of any age is having a significant impact in schools in the North West, writes Maddy Barnes
Montage of 'strands'

Wednesday

15th Oct 2025

Government sets 90% phonics check target
A mandatory reading test for Year 8 students will also be introduced by the end of this parliament, Bridget Phillipson confirms
Government sets 90 per cent phonics target

Tuesday

14th Oct 2025

How metacognitive routines can boost reading comprehension
Year 5 teacher Aaron Regan explains how a series of metacognitive strategies has helped his class to get better at inference and articulating their ideas about texts
Child puzzled reading a book

Friday

10th Oct 2025

Beyond phonics: why England still has a reading problem
The latest phonics screening check data is further proof that teaching reading is not ‘done’ at the end of KS1, writes Claire Heald
School children with phonics cards

Thursday

2nd Oct 2025

Do schools need a Year 8 reading test?
The DfE plans to introduce a new reading assessment for Year 8, but how useful would this be for schools? Reading researcher Jessie Ricketts gives her view
Year 8 reading test

Tuesday

30th Sep 2025

Legal requirement sought for library in every Scottish secondary
The number of school libraries in Scotland has ‘drastically reduced’ over past decade, warns Scottish Book Trust
Legal requirement sought for library in every Scottish secondary