đ° Adult Literacy News Summary
England up in reading, maths and science rankings as Scotland and Wales fall behind
08-Sep-2026 - UK
English pupils have pulled ahead of the rest of the UK in international reading, maths and science tests, new data suggests, with Scotland and Wales falling further behind. The 2025 Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) saw reading and maths scores slump in each UK nation except England, while all four saw an uptick in science, with that rise again most notable in England. The latest Pisa report, which is published every three years, also warned of a worldwide decline in teenagers' reading skills.
Read moreChiswick Book Festival Strengthens its Ties with Ealing
08-Sep-2026 - UK
The Chiswick Book Festival will strengthen its long-established ties with the Borough of Ealing this September, with St Benedictâs School joining as a Diamond Partner and a strong line-up of Ealing writers appearing across the six-day programme. In recent years the Festival has held events with Gunnersbury, Pitzhanger Manor and the University of West London, and in 2024 helped facilitate and promote the launch of the revived Ealing Book Festival. It also continues to support Read Easy Ealing, one of the reading charities it raises money for.
Read moreCharity seeks publicity officer to promote adult literacy
08-Sep-2026 - UK
The volume of bumf that councillors have to plough through can be daunting, even to an old hand like me. Especially when itâs not on paper, but on a computer screen, and I have to fight the temptation to just scroll and skim, at the risk of missing some nugget of vital info buried in paragraph number 94(b)! But I canât begin to imagine what life would be like without the ability to read. A staggering three million adults in this country are in that position, I was reminded this week. Local schools tell Read Easy that there are many young parents who could benefit from the charityâs one-to-one confidential coaching. Yet a lack of confidence or of someone they trust who can encourage them will hold them back from seeking help to improve their skills. âOur hardest job is finding people,â one of the charityâs volunteers told me.
Read morePrimary teachers hired to teach Glasgow secondary pupils to read
07-Sep-2026 - UK
Primary school teachers have been hired to work in Glasgow's high schools to address the growing number of new starts who are unable to read properly. The primary teachers run intensive catch-up classes for first-year secondary school pupils without basic literacy skills. Scotland's ranking in the latest Pisa international education study, external did not change significantly between 2022 and 2025 but a long-term decline in reading standards has not been reversed. There are currently primary-qualified teaching staff working in 14 of Glasgow's 30 secondary schools to improve literacy and numeracy standards.
Read moreInternational Literacy Day
05-Sep-2026 - Global
Since 1967, the annual celebrations of International Literacy Day (ILD) have taken place on 8 September around the world to remind policy-makers, practitioners, and the public of the critical importance of literacy for creating more literate, just, peaceful, and sustainable society. This year, International Literacy Day (ILD) marks its 60th anniversary. It was proclaimed by UNESCO in 1966 during the 14th session of the General Conference. Celebrated under the theme âLiteracy for people, the planet and prosperity," ILD 2026 provides an opportunity to take stock of progress, deepen understanding of persistent and emerging challenges, and shape future literacy agendas in a rapidly changing world.
Read moreWomen are giving their partners the âIlliterate Boyfriendâ test: âDo your best to pronounce these wordsâ
03-Sep-2026 - UK
People online are distressed at men butchering words such as âhyperboleâ and âhors dâoeuvresâ â highlighting a gender reversal in âintelligence gapsâ. There are common non-negotiables we look for in a prospective partner. They should be kind, caring and thoughtful. Having a shared interest helps. So does remembering important dates and anniversaries. But how much does it matter if they know how to pronounce the word âgnocchiâ? Turns out thatâs a potential dealbreaker, at least according to a (rather judgy) cohort on TikTok. See: the âIlliterate Boyfriendâ trend, which is testing some couples on the app.
Read moreThe ballad of reading in gaol: prison libraries are a vital resource
03-Sep-2026 - UK
HMP Edinburghâs triumph at the Nibbies underscored the excellent and essential work of prison libraries â but the sector still faces considerable challenges. One story that had lots of traction coming out of the 2026 Nibbies ceremony was Saughton Library at HMP Edinburgh â in co-ordination with colleagues at the Scottish capitalâs Oxgangs and Mobile Library services â winning the Library of the Year gong. The attention was overwhelmingly positive, but a small part of it involved a bit of eyebrow raising at the fact The British Book Awards named a prison library as the best in the UK and Ireland.
Read morePeople struggle to read health advice, report says
03-Sep-2026 - UK
Almost one in three working-age adults in Surrey finds it difficult to understand health advice, according to a council report. The document, due to be discussed by Surrey's Health and Wellbeing Board and Integrated Care Partnership next week, said about 30% of adults aged 16 to 65 fall below the threshold for health literacy. The figure rises to 37% in Spelthorne, the county's lowest-performing borough, while almost half of residents across Surrey struggle when numeracy is required. Health literacy is defined as a person's ability to access, understand and use information to make decisions about their health and wellbeing
Read moreGen Z is the first generation with lower IQs than their parents â hereâs why
30-Aug-2026 - UK
Neuroscientist Jared Cooney Horvath claims that Gen Z is the first generation 'less cognitively developed' than their parents and tech in the classroom could be to blame. He says that until 2010, every generation was cognitively superior to their parents. The reason for this was that school and education for students were consistently improving. âThe golden age of education was from about 1996 to 2010,â he explains. But since then, IQ scores worldwide have been going down. He believes this is linked directly to screens becoming widespread in schools. âHuman beings are not biologically wired to learn very well from tech: weâre built to learn from other humans,â he says.
Read moreImpact of Dolly Parton's UK children's book scheme praised
26-Aug-2026 - UK
The impact of Dolly Parton's children's literary scheme in the UK has been praised by a former MP who helped bring the charitable project to his constituency. Tributes have been poured in for the country singer who has died aged 80. Her Imagination Library has had a presence across the south of England since it was launched in the UK in 2007. Martin Salter, who was the MP for Reading West from 1997 until 2010, said he believed his constituency was the second place in the country to receive the books. In the UK, seven million books have been sent to children, the Imagination Library says. It also operates in the US, Australia, Canada and Ireland, with 332.4 million books sent out globally.
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