Teenage boys in the UK are "stuck" reading primary school-level books such as Jeff Kinney's Diary of a Wimpy Kid series, while girls of the same age have moved on to a broader range of authors and genres, according to a new study.
Reading choices diverge sharply in secondary school
The annual What Kids Are Reading report by the education technology company Renaissance analyzed more than 23 million reading quizzes completed by almost 1.1 million children in schools across the UK and Ireland during the 2024-25 academic year. Among boys aged 11 to 14, eight of the ten most-read books came from the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. In contrast, girls' reading spanned authors including Alice Oseman's Heartstopper, Holly Jackson's A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, and Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games.
Bernadetta Brzyska, Renaissance's head of research, said: "Children read best when they read what they love … This is not an argument against popular series. Familiar authors and box-set fiction pull reluctant readers in. The question is what comes next. Pupils who are steered towards new authors and harder books carry on reading while those left on the same series tend to stall."
Declining reading time and daily habits
The report highlights broader differences in reading habits outside school. Previous research by the National Literacy Trust found that by ages 14 to 16, less than 10% of boys read daily in their spare time compared with 18% of girls. Dedicated reading time at school also declines sharply after primary education. A separate Renaissance survey found that only 28% of secondary schools set aside at least 15 minutes a day for reading, compared with 62% of primary schools.
Martin Galway, head of professional learning and partnerships at the National Literacy Trust, said: "The growing gap we see in secondary school, particularly for teenage boys, is a clear call to action. Too many young people are 'stuck' or disengaging from reading altogether, often because they have not yet found books that feel relevant, accessible or inspiring."
Self-chosen books boost comprehension
The report also found that pupils demonstrated stronger comprehension when reading books they had chosen themselves, scoring an average of 92% on quizzes about their favourite titles compared with 76% across all books. The findings come during the government's National Year of Reading campaign, which has identified teenage boys as one of the groups most in need of support after reading enjoyment among children fell to its lowest level on record last year.
Most-read books by boys and girls in years 7 to 9
Boys: 1. Diary of a Wimpy Kid, 2. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Getaway, 3. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 4. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules, 5. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Last Straw, 6. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Dog Days, 7. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: No Brainer, 8. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth, 9. Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Meltdown, 10. The Hunger Games.
Girls: 1. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, 2. The Hunger Games, 3. Heartstopper Volume 1, 4. A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, 5. The Extremely Embarrassing Life of Lottie Brooks, 6. Heartstopper Volume 2, 7. Diary of a Wimpy Kid, 8. The Catastrophic Friendship Fails of Lottie Brooks, 9. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, 10. Lottie Brooks's Totally Disastrous School Trip.
