UK’s reading habits have been transformed by ‘Quick Reads’

Millions of adults in the UK are known to have reading difficulties and one third of the British population have never picked up a book. One organisation has been trying to combat this issue for the last five years.

An adult literacy project called ‘Quick Reads’ has improved the reading standards of thousands of learners with their innovative idea. The company has been publishing short, fast-paced books targeted for adults.

Featured authors include the likes of James Patterson, Andy McNab, Ricky Tomlinson and many more. The books are a maximum 128 pages long, to encourage older, less confident readers to pick up a novel.

A survey completed by the National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) asked a number of literacy tutors about the books. The evaluation data received showed that 97% of the 400 tutors, believed Quick Reads have been useful in helping their learners to progress.

“No one could have imagined five years ago just how essential these books have become to quality literacy learning,” said Carol Taylor, an operational director at NIACE.

“They appear to be just everyday short stories, but Quick Reads are not only transforming the reading habits of the UK, but the lives of learners, parents, families, workers, in fact the whole of society is seeing very obvious benefits. Who knows what another five years of Quick Reads might achieve?”

The NIACE survey also reports that 90 per cent of learning providers have seen positive changes in their students’ attitude towards reading since using Quick Reads. Learners’ confidence has also risen, according to 86 per cent of the tutors surveyed.

Christopher Thompson