As last year, we report on Regional Variations for England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. The numbers in Wales are quite small so some of the choices in Wales are probably over-influenced by a few schools.

Year 1

There are relatively small numbers in Year 1, especially in Wales, so some of the choices might seem eccentric. England and the Republic of Ireland liked Julia Donaldson, the Gruffalo being top in both countries. Wales and to a lesser extent Scotland liked Roderick Hunt, of lower readability. Northern Ireland liked J. K. Rowling – of very high readability (see table 46). Difficulty levels were high for English, Scottish and Republic of Ireland children, but especially high for children in Northern Ireland , who were reading five years above their chronological age (average ATOS 5.0, UK 6.0; 3.3 last year). However, Wales had increased very little at 1.3 (UK 2.3; 1.2 last year). Nonetheless, even in Wales pupils were reading books more than one year above their chronological age. Quality of Reading Comprehension (APC) in all countries was good, but had declined in Northern Ireland, which was hardly surprising given the difficulty of the books there.

Year 2

England still liked Julia Donaldson, Scotland Julia Donaldson and Roald Dahl, but the Republic of Ireland favoured Dav Pilkey (as last year). Wales were still preoccupied with Roderick Hunt and in Year 2 mysteriously Northern Ireland now joined that trend (again as last year) – completely different from Year 1 (see table 47). Book difficulty was highest in England, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland (ATOS 2.6 – 2.7) but had collapsed in Northern Ireland to 1.4 (similar to last year), while Wales was at 1.7 (as last year). Northern Ireland seems characterised by low levels of difficulty in Year 2, but the children more than catch up later. However, even in Northern Ireland, children were still reading almost half a year above their chronological age. Quality of reading comprehension (APC) was similar in many countries (approximately 0.90.

Year 3

England and Scotland liked Julia Donaldson and Roald Dahl, while the Republic mingled Dahl and Dav Pikey, and children in Northern Ireland are also now reading Julia Donaldson books in greater numbers. Wales were still stuck on Roderick Hunt (see table 48). England, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland had very similarly high levels of book difficulty, while Northern Ireland were 2.6 (UK 3.6) and Wales 2.1 (UK 3.1). Thus, pupils in Wales were reading at their chronological age. As last year, quality of reading comprehension (APC) was similar across all countries at about 0.90, despite the differences in book difficulty.

Year 4

In Year 4 Jeff Kinney began to make an appearance, especially in the Republic of Ireland. England and Scotland featured a mix of Dahl and Kinney (as last year), while Northern Ireland and Wales mixed Julia Donaldson and Roald Dahl (leaving Roderick Hunt, unlike last year) (see table 49). England, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland all had high ATOS (4.9, UK 5.9), reading two years above their chronological age. Northern Ireland lagged well behind (3.5), but children were still reading half a year ahead of their chronological age. Wales was worst but showed a considerable increase from last year (2.9, UK 3.9; last year 2.5), and pupils were at their chronological age. Despite these variations in book difficulty, reading comprehension (APC) was similar across all countries (about 0.90, as last year).

Year 5

England, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland read many books by Kinney, just as last year, while Northern Ireland and Wales intermingled Kinney with Roald Dahl (see table 50). England, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland were at similar levels of difficulty (5.3 – 5.4; UK equivalent 6.3), indicating children were reading slightly over a year above their chronological age. Northern Ireland had increased somewhat (ATOS 5.1), just as last year, and Wales showed a further very substantial improvement, to 4.6 (UK 5.6). Children in Wales were reading half a year above their chronological age. Quality of reading comprehension remained high in all countries (0.91 – 0.93).

Year 6

Jeff Kinney reigned supreme in Northern Ireland and Wales, whereas in other regions his dominance was somewhat punctuated by other books, and Louis Sachar’s “Holes” appeared frequently in high places (see table 51). All countries except Wales showed a similar level of book difficulty (ATOS 5.4, UK 6.4), children reading half a year above their chronological age. Wales was 5.0 again, indicating Welsh pupils were reading at their chronological age. Standards of reading comprehension (APC) were good across all countries (0.90 – 0.93).

Year 7

This is the first year of secondary school, except in Scotland, so we could expect interesting differences.

However, Kinney appeared everywhere, most prominently in Wales, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland, although punctuated by John Boyne’s The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas and books by Walliams and Oseman. England and Scotland featured Oseman more prominently, while Scotland also featured Louis Sachar’s Holes and Michelle Magorian. Northern Ireland continued to love the book “Under the Hawthorn Tree” by Marita Conlon-McKenna (see table 52). Difficulty was much the same across many regions (5.1, UK equivalent 6.1), with Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland doing better than this (5.4, UK 6.4). However, this was still half a year behind chronological age. The fact that Scottish pupils were still in primary school did not seem to have protected them from the decline. However, as last year, Wales had shown an ability to catch up. Scotland, Northern Ireland, and the Republic of Ireland showed good levels on comprehension quality (0.90 – 0.93), but in other regions this was more disappointing (0.87 – 0.88), just as last year.

Year 8

A very diverse range of books was evident in all countries. England and Scotland favoured George Orwell’s Animal Farm and Alice Oseman’s Heartstopper 1 (a sharp contrast in readability), while Wales and the Republic of Ireland favoured John Boyne’s The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas. Northern Ireland had David Walliams top with Gangsta Granny, which also featured for England and Wales (see table 53). England’s ATOS had gone up considerably (to 5.7, UK 6.7), while the other countries hovered around 5.2, except for Wales which was 4.7 (UK 5.7), whose pupils were reading at a year and a half behind their chronological age. Thus, difficulty continued to plateau (as it had done since Year 6), meaning that as each chronological year passed, the children fell a further year behind in their reading. Comprehension quality was similar in all regions (0.86 – 0.89).

Years 9-11

“Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck was very popular in England, Wales and the Republic of Ireland. Collen Hoover had quite a presence. Otherwise, choices were quite diverse. Kinney had virtually disappeared from the top 10 in all countries, as had Walliams. Difficulty was at 4.9 to 5.3 in most countries, meaning children were reading at least three years below their chronological age, but the Republic of Ireland was a little lower (4.7). Despite the low levels of difficulty, comprehension quality stayed much the same across all regions (0.88 – 0.89).