This report by the National Literacy Trust outlines findings from a 2023 annual literacy survey, exploring children and young people’s writing enjoyment at school and in their free time.
The report found that just a third of children and young people aged 8 to 18 enjoyed writing in their free time in early 2023. This means that compared with 2010, the number of children and young people who enjoyed writing in their free time has decreased by a quarter (26.1%).
Compared with 2010, the number of children and young people who said they wrote something daily in their free time has decreased by over a quarter (28.5%).
Statutory assessment data show that in 2022, 69% of pupils aged 11 in England met the expected standard in writing, which is down from 78% in 2019. This means that 1 in 3 (31%) 11-year-olds in England left primary school in 2022 unable to write at the expected level, rising to nearly half (46%) of disadvantaged children.
Previous research found that children and young people who enjoyed writing very much were seven times more likely to write above the level expected for their age compared with those who did not enjoy writing at all.