Amid a national reading for pleasure crisis, the National Literacy Trust has published a research report entitled Children’s and Young People’s Listening in 2024 exploring how listening to audio book could provide a gateway into reading and reading enjoyment for many children and young people, particularly boys.

National Literacy Trust's Key Findings on Audio Research

The report is based on responses to the National Literacy Trust's Annual Literacy Survey from more than 37,000 young people aged 8-18 who said they listened to audio formats in their free time in 2024.

For the first time since NLT started asking about listening enjoyment in 2020, more children enjoy listening to audio than reading: 2 in 5 (42.3%) children enjoy listening to audio in their free time, compared with 1 in 3 (34.6%) who enjoy reading.

Listening to audio could provide a route into reading and reading enjoyment for many children: Almost 2 in 5 (37.5%) children said that listening to an audiobook sparked their interest in reading books, while more of those who enjoyed listening to audio also enjoyed reading, compared with those who didn’t enjoy listening (52.4% vs. 36.0%).

Listening to audio can support children’s learning, creativity and wellbeing: Half of children said listening to an audiobook or podcast helped them better understand a story or subject (48.4%), made them use their imagination more than when watching videos (52.9%) and helped them relax when they were stressed or anxious (52.0%).

Boys, in particular, stand to benefit: While there is a substantial gap in boys’ and girls’ reading enjoyment (28.2% vs 40.5%), this direction is reversed in audio, with slightly more boys than girls saying they enjoy listening to audio (43.4% vs 40.4%). 

Support for teachers and parents:

The National Literacy Trust has published a range of resources and tips to help teachers and parents support children’s enjoyment of reading through audio.

Download the full report Children’s and Young People’s Listening in 2024

The full report can be downloaded from the NLT's website here

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