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The inquiry into the decline in children reading for pleasure today heard from a government minister and a Department for Education official about several key challenges.

At the Commons Education Select Committee’s final inquiry hearing, early education minister Olivia Bailey and DfE director for curriculum, general qualifications and digital strategy Jenny Oldroyd outlined the government’s stance on various issues, including the impact of phonics testing and Year 8 reading assessments on reading for pleasure.

MPs launched the inquiry in November to combat what committee chair Helen Hayes called a “generational shift” in levels of reading for pleasure.

A survey from the National Literacy Trust found that in their free time in 2025, a 36 per cent reduction in enjoyment levels since 2005.

Here is what Ms Bailey had to say on five key issues:

1. Impact of ‘overly complex’ grammar

When asked how schools promote reading for pleasure among pupils, the early education minister said that fostering a love of reading is embedded in “every school in the country”, emphasising that it is present in the national curriculum and the initial teacher training framework.

Ms Bailey also said the government was “looking at reviewing the grammar content and the sequencing in primary schools to make sure that kids aren’t getting tangled up with overly complex grammar at the expense of really enjoying their reading”.

2. Phonics disagreement

MPs were previously told that reading for pleasure requires a “higher profile” in the curriculum, and that there is a “tension” between the need to create a culture of reading for pleasure and the need to satisfy assessments.

Ms Bailey, when asked how the government intended to address this, told MPs the evidence base for the phonics approach is “very well established” and said, “We know it works.”

The approach needs to be “fun” but not at the expense of learning, Ms Bailey told MPs.

Ms Hayes told the minister that the committee had heard evidence that the use of phonics with children up to three years old is not age-appropriate - and “that may be part of the problem”.

“By deploying an evidence-based methodology at an age for which the evidence is not established, you might be achieving something that’s counterproductive,” Ms Hayes said.

3. ‘Best schools’ already do Year 8 reading test

In its to the Francis curriculum and assessment review, the government announced plans to introduce a statutory reading test for Year 8 students.

Ms Bailey was asked numerous questions about its introduction, but said that the “best schools” already administer the assessment.

The government wants to support the good practice “already” in schools, and this is a reason for pushing ahead with the test, Ms Bailey told MPs.

Introducing the test is “really important”, and “all the best schools are already doing this”, she said.

4. School libraries

Last year, ����Vlog revealed further thinking behind the government’s pledge to create libraries in every primary school by the end of this Parliament.

Ms Bailey referenced the plans on multiple occasions, and said the department was satisfied that the £12.5 million of funding would be enough for resources such as stock and staffing.

The minister also told MPs that the department believes it is best for headteachers to decide how best to create a culture of reading, when asked if it would put the presence of libraries in schools on a statutory footing.

5. ‘Catastrophic failure’ of English literature GCSE

Another point of disagreement between the committee and the minister was the extent to which a love of reading is embedded in the curriculum.

Fellow Labour MP Sureena Brackenridge told Ms Bailey and Ms Oldroyd - who is leaving the department this week - that teachers have said they “lack the capacity and the time”.

Ms Bailey said she “stands by” her stance that a love of reading is embedded in “everything that teachers are doing” - and by the curriculum.

But Ms Hayes picked up on one course in particular that she felt disproved such a statement: “The evidence that we have had overwhelmingly speaks to a catastrophic failure of the English literature GCSE curriculum to foster a love of reading in children.

“We heard [it] from academics, we heard it from teachers. If I can speak to the experience of my own daughter, who did GCSE English last year, who learned all of these wonderful poems, and the only conclusion she drew was that she never wanted to do that ever again in her life.”

She added that it was “very frustrating to hear you talk again and again and again about how [a love of reading] is embedded across all of our schools. The system that we have at the moment is stifling a love of reading in our children”.

The DfE and National Literacy Trust announced last year that 2026 would be the , with education secretary Bridget Phillipson calling on families to read together for 10 minutes per day.

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