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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Sally Weale Education correspondent

Ministers urged to add audiobooks to England’s new schools curriculum

Overhead view of pupils in a playground
More than two in five (42.3%) of the 37,000 who were polled said they enjoyed listening to audio in their free time in 2024. Photograph: Martin Argles/The Guardian

The government has been urged to include audiobooks in the new schools curriculum in England, after research showed fewer children were reading books for pleasure and more were listening to them instead.

A poll by the National Literacy Trust (NLT) found that children’s enjoyment of listening to audio and podcasts had risen compared with the previous year, overtaking their enjoyment of reading for the first time since the charity began asking about audio in 2020.

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