As we celebrate the launch of the What Kids Are Reading 2025 report, we would like to spotlight the success one trust has had from analysing student reading data and using the Accelerated Reader programme across their schools. In recent years, we have continued to see reading for pleasure decline among young people, yet Redhill Academy Trust is bucking that trend. The trust has cultivated a thriving reading culture across its 10 secondary schools, one that engages students and has boosted reading enjoyment across the trust to double the national average. According to the 2024 National Literacy Trust Annual Literacy Survey, just 35% of children aged 8 to 18 enjoy reading in their free time. At Redhill Academy Trust, that figure soars to 68% among Year 7 students.

Building a culture of reading

At the heart of the trust’s success is a simple but powerful idea: make reading a normal, enjoyable part of everyday school life. Each school in the trust timetables a daily DEAR (Drop Everything and Read) time in Years 7 and 8, embedding reading into the rhythm of the school day. This consistent routine helps students form lasting reading habits and signals that reading is valued across the school community.

But DEAR time is just the beginning. Redhill Trust schools have also transformed physical spaces to support reading, creating cosy library corners and silent reading areas where students can immerse themselves in books without distraction. The trust also ensures that its libraries are stocked with a wide and inclusive selection of books. Student-requested genres and extra copies of popular titles are prioritised, ensuring that every student can find something they love. Whether it’s fantasy, biography, or graphic novels, Redhill’s libraries reflect the diverse interests of its readers.

Teachers and librarians play an active role too, recommending titles, reading alongside students, and fostering a shared love of stories. These efforts are supported by Renaissance’s What Kids Are Reading report, which offers curated book lists based on the reading habits of over 1 million children, to inspire recommendations and help ensure that student can always find their next read. For example, Alice Osman and Rick Riordan are among the most-read authors this year, providing stories with a range of diverse role models that children can identify with and explore.

Listening to students and acting on feedback

One of the most distinctive aspects of the trust’s approach is its commitment to student voice. The trust regularly utilises Renaissance’s exclusive consultancy support service to conduct reading surveys and provide insights to understand what’s working and where improvements can be made. In Spring 2024, nearly 1,400 Year 7 students participated in a survey that revealed both high levels of enjoyment and thoughtful suggestions for enhancement.

The results were telling: around two-thirds of students reported reading for pleasure, and fewer than 3% expressed negative feelings about reading. Many students asked for longer DEAR sessions, quieter reading spaces, easier access to new books and more time to talk about what they have read with their teachers and peers. Redhill Academy Trust’s leadership took this feedback seriously. Since this survey, schools have developed a reading-focused lesson in Year 9 English where texts are read that sit beyond the English curriculum.  At one trust school, teachers select books they are passionate about and read and explore them with their classes.  Moreover, instead of a standalone DEAR time in Year 9, subjects have been tasked to build subject-specific enrichment reading into their learning sequences, helping to develop a love of subject-specific reading.

Tools like Accelerated Reader (AR) have been instrumental in this process. By tracking reading habits and comprehension scores, AR provides educators with insights into students’ reading level, comprehension and enjoyment while reducing their administrative workload. Teachers can see exactly which titles are preferred and where interventions need to be focused to support their students, where interventions need to be focused to support their students.

Celebrating reading achievements

Redhill Academy Trust doesn’t just promote reading, it celebrates it. The annual Redhill Trust Book Awards are a highlight of the school calendar, turning literacy into a student-led celebration. Pupils vote for their favourite new books and even get the chance to meet authors, making reading exciting and empowering.  The Trust also runs its annual Big Reading Quiz, pitting the ten secondary schools against each other in a series of reading-related quizzes.  This has now even extended to the trust’s primary schools.

The impact of these efforts is clear. Last year alone, Year 7 students across the trust passed over 32,000 Accelerated Reader quizzes, with an average comprehension score of around 74%, signifying not only a high volume of reading but also strong understanding and engagement.

Students at the trust are reading widely, from beloved series like Harry Potter and popular authors like David Walliams to classic novels and biographies of sports heroes such as Mohamed Salah and Marcus Rashford. This breadth reflects a reading culture that values choice, curiosity, and personal connection to books.

Conclusion – A model for other schools

Redhill Academy Trust’s holistic approach, combining daily reading routines, student involvement, and joyful events, has created a model that other schools can learn from. Their success aligns closely with Renaissance’s mission to accelerate learning through reading, and it shows how tools like Accelerated Reader can support both strategy and impact.

To help your school achieve similar success, we suggest these three tips for wider reading enjoyment:

• Make time to read every day: It could be at the start of the day, after lunch or in the middle of double maths, just make it part of the students’ daily routine.
• Allow students to talk about what they have read: When students share their thoughts about texts, they better understand what they’ve read and learn from each other’s diverse insights.
• Listen to feedback: Let the students guide you to success. Using tools such as Accelerated Reader can also help teachers gather insights into where students may need additional support to thrive.

For educators looking to build stronger reading cultures in their own schools, the 2025 What Kids Are Reading report is an invaluable resource. This new report is drawn from data collected from over a million pupils. It reveals insights into the reading trends of the nation’s children and includes tables of the top-rated books and authors such as David Walliams, Matt Oldfield and Cressida Cowell, for each year group.

Redhill Academy Trust’s story is a testament to what’s possible when schools listen to students, invest in reading, and celebrate literacy as a shared journey. It’s not just about raising scores – it’s about raising readers. To hear more about how Redhill Academy Trust has achieved such amazing reading outcomes,  listen to our podcast episode, Developing a trust-wide culture of reading, where we interview the trust’s reading group leader, Gary Hillyard.