This report by the National Literacy Trust shows how listening enjoyment and behaviours have changed year-on-year, while also providing deeper insight into listening in 2023. The report is based on its Annual Literacy Survey of 71,351 children and young people aged 5 to 18.
Listening sits alongside writing and reading for enjoyment as a key area in developing children and young people’s literacy. The findings show that while there are gaps and drops across different areas, the gap in listening enjoyment continues to be narrower than that of reading or writing.
It is also notable that in groups where reading enjoyment and engagement might be lower, such as boys and those in receipt of free school meals, the gap is smaller for listening even if reading is marginally more popular.
There are many benefits to listening to audio and stories. It helps children and young people to understand a subject and encourages them to use their imagination. Furthermore, open-ended comments continue to suggest an important wellbeing element and a joy associated with hearing stories from loved ones and teachers, whether read or told from memory.
The fact that even many older children say they enjoy hearing stories read to them suggests that there is a strong case to be made for building story time and hearing stories read aloud beyond primary school.