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Reluctant readers: The girls who don't enjoy reading

The conversation around reluctant readers often focuses on boys, but new research is warning that high numbers of girls also do not enjoying reading.

In fact, 44 per cent of girls aged eight to 18 say that they do not enjoy reading according to a research report published by the National Literacy Trust (Picton et al, 2021).

Entitled Forgotten Girls, the report draws upon a survey of more than 21,000 girls and finds that 10 per cent of those aged eight to 18 do not read at all in their free time.

It warns too that 19 per cent of those aged six to 14 can be classed as struggling with their reading skills.

It comes as other research shows that reading for pleasure out of school is a major contributing factor to success in school and in later life (British Land, 2021).

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