What Kids Are Reading - Secondary

The 2025 What (and How) Kids are Reading report celebrates the 17th edition of this annual spotlight on the reading choices, habits, and attitudes of children of all ages.

Accelerated Reader was used in more than 6,700 schools in the UK and the Republic of Ireland by more than 1.2 million pupils. Collectively more than 25 million books were read (4% less than last year), and 34% of these were in Secondary Schools. The Report not only looks at reading behaviours of children of all ages and abilities, but also what they’re enjoying – as every student that took part in the study voted on their favourites.

For the first time in 2025 the lists feature the Top 100 books (previously these lists were Top 20) which features a greater breadth of titles, and also include a list of the Top 10 most popular authors.

You can also see the results of the 2025 What Kids are Reading Report for Year 1 to Year 6 on our Primary page.