12
Bookmark Impact Report / 2021-22
Boosting reading attainment Research from the University of Leeds, published in March 2022, shows that 68% of children in Year 1 are not reading at the expected standard. 5 And the gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers has widened to its largest since 2012. One in six pupils who are poor readers at age seven will not complete secondary education, a dropout rate that is six times higher than the rate for proficient readers.6
44%
of children who received Bookmark support ended the year at or above the expected reading standard.
Only 8% of children who received Bookmark support were at or above the expected reading standard before starting their programme. Whilst we are further refining our programme to push for greater impact, it is clear the programme is supporting reading attainment progression for our pupils.
“Out of the 10 children participating in the programme, eight of them have made accelerated progress.” Teacher at a partner school
41%
of children with English as an additional language improved their reading level after completing a six-week Bookmark programme
Spending one-to-one time with a volunteer also helps children to develop related skills like reading comprehension. Half of teachers identified improvements to reading comprehension. They also noted improvements in reading fluency (65% of teachers) and decoding strategies (35% of teachers).
“My pupil started at Level 2 and was tackling Level 4 books by the last session.” Bookmark volunteer
5
Based on a study of 450 children in Leeds.
6
Source: (Hernandez, 2011)