There is “little evidence” that the government’s national year of reading has impacted “the core work” of the Department for Education, MPs have said, with calls to extend its pledge for a library in every primary school to secondary. The education committee has made wide-ranging recommendations for government to improve rates of children reading for pleasure, after figures showed just one in three children said they enjoy reading in their spare time. The committee’s report says the decline in reading is “not simply an educational concern but has repercussions for the whole of society”. But it added that while school plays a “key role” in developing a love for reading, this is acknowledged – but not reflected – by the Department for Education, which focuses “overwhelmingly on proficiency over pleasure”. It said the growth in recreational screen-time use is “undoubtedly a major factor” in the decline of reading for pleasure, but the cost of living, rising poverty, modern work patterns, lack of access to libraries and competing curriculum demands also play a part. Impact of national year of reading unclear Education secretary Bridget Phillipson launched the national year of reading last July to boost school-readiness. The campaign involved school and community events supported by external organisations and sending more than 70,000 books to disadvantaged communities. In 2025, the National Literacy Trust found only 33 per cent of children aged eight to 18 years old said they enjoyed reading in their free time, with lower rates for boys and children with free school meals. In June, rates slightly improved to 36 per cent. However, the education committee’s report found “little evidence” that the national year of reading has “impacted the core work of the department in terms of schools and early years”. MPs said without long-term prioritisation and appropriate investment, it “risks becoming a one-off event with minimal lasting impact”. The committee said the scheme should be made into a decade-long strategy. This should include a review of evidence, guidance for best practice for parents, schools, teachers and early years. More libraries and protected time MPs said the government’s pledge to have a library in every primary school should be extended to include secondaries. The National Literacy Trust has been announced as government’s delivery partner. Ministers should also set out expectations for all schools to include protected time in the school day for reading, for example through free breakfast clubs, the report said. The report has also called for school libraries to be put on a statutory footing, and for government to collect data on the number of school libraries and dedicated library staff in the school census. A library development fund should be developed to allow schools to refresh their book stock and train staff, the report said. And design guidelines for new schools should be updated to ensure a library is essential. ‘Missed opportunity’ in curriculum and assessment review The report says the curriculum and assessment review was a “missed opportunity” to create more space for pupils to enjoy reading. The review proposed a broader range of text types for GCSE English language, diverse text choices in literature and a mandatory oracy framework. The government wants to also introduce a year 8 reading test, which MPs welcomed, but warned it should “not take further time and resources away” and result in more children “viewing reading as a source of hard work and stress”. The report says government should “expand the definition of the British Isles to a broader definition of literature and extend the requirement for a 19th century novel to a longer period”, and work either exam boards to allow teachers to choose texts that “strongly resonate with the pupils in their local area”. The Department for Education has been approached for comment.