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2026, the National Year of Reading
The Department for Education made 2026 the National Year of Reading, and the National Literacy Trust leads the campaign, Go All In. Schools join for free, and in September 2026 the DfE added money for secondary schools to buy books.
The National Year of Reading runs through 2026. Its website describes it as “a UK-wide campaign designed to help more people rediscover the joy of reading”. It is a Department for Education initiative with more than 60 partner organisations, and the National Literacy Trust leads the campaign, called Go All In.
The DfE says the campaign aims “to tackle the steep decline in reading enjoyment”. The National Literacy Trust’s annual survey measures that decline. In 2025 it found that 32.7% of 8 to 18-year-olds enjoyed reading in their free time, the lowest level in 20 years. In 2026 the figure rose to 36.1%, and among 14 to 16-year-olds it rose from 28.6% to 35.0%: see Young people’s reading enjoyment in 2026.
What schools get
- A free online platform with resources and a calendar of events, many of them free and open to secondary-age students, such as Take 10 to Read on Saturday 10 October 2026. As of October 2026, the campaign says more than 6,500 schools and settings have signed up.
- A theme for each term. Spring was ‘In the room’ and summer ‘In the setting’. The autumn theme, ‘In the community’, is about taking reading beyond the school gates with families, public libraries and local organisations.
Money for books
On 15 September 2026 the DfE published guidance on 5 million pounds for state-funded secondary schools in England to buy books, which it says is “to align with the National Year of Reading 2026”. Each school gets between 450 and 1,400 pounds, weighted by size and disadvantage, with no application. The money is for reading for pleasure: the guidance rules out “English class set texts or GCSE texts”, and orders must be placed by 31 March 2027.
What it means for English departments
The campaign’s schools page says reading “includes stories, ideas and information in print, digital and audio”, from graphic novels and lyrics to articles, podcasts and games. It is aimed at reading for pleasure, and the DfE’s book money is limited in the same way, so the set texts stay a department cost. A school librarian, where there is one, is the obvious partner for the book order and for autumn term events with families and public libraries.
What happens next
The ‘In the community’ theme runs for the rest of the autumn term 2026. The deadline for book orders under the DfE funding is 31 March 2027.
Sources
- National Year of Reading, About the National Year of Reading
- National Year of Reading, Schools
- National Year of Reading, What’s on
- National Literacy Trust, National Year of Reading 2026
- National Literacy Trust, Children and young people’s reading in 2026 (June 2026) and in 2025 (June 2025)
- Department for Education, Funding for books and reading materials for secondary schools: guidance for schools (updated 22 September 2026)