2026 is the National Year of Reading. It is a national campaign led by the Department for Education with the National Literacy Trust, and its aim is simple: to help people of all ages enjoy reading again and make it part of everyday life. What follows is my short summary in my own words, and you can find out more through the link at the foot of this post.
The campaign was announced in July 2025, after the Trust’s annual survey found that children and young people’s enjoyment of reading, and how often they read, had fallen to an all-time low. Just over one in three children now say they enjoy reading, the lowest level since 2005.
The campaign is called Go All In, and its message is “If you’re into it, read into it.” Rather than asking children to read more because they should, it invites them to read about the things they already love, whether that is football, music, baking, gaming, comedy or sci-fi. Reading becomes a way into a passion, not a chore standing in its way.
There is a year-long programme for schools, with events for children and training for teachers, and a volunteer scheme for anyone who wants to help build a reading culture in their community. For families, the campaign website has free guides for reading together with babies and toddlers (0 to 5), young children (5 to 11) and teenagers (11 and over), a tool to find your nearest library, and a calendar of reading events taking place across the country through the year.
What this means for families
For a child who finds reading hard, being told to read more can feel like being told to try harder at the thing that already wears them out. The idea behind this campaign is kinder: start with what your child loves, and let the reading follow.
Everything counts. A football programme, a comic, a recipe you cook together, the rules of a new game, a magazine, or an audiobook shared on a car journey all build the habit. Reading aloud to your child, even once they can read for themselves, is one of the best things you can do, because it lets them enjoy stories that are still beyond what they can manage alone.
If your child is working hard but reading still seems a struggle, it may be worth finding out why. Specialist 1-to-1 support can build the skills that make reading feel possible, and enjoyable, again.
My thanks to the National Literacy Trust for leading this campaign. Their page on the National Year of Reading is a good place to start.