The Impact of Targeted Literacy Interventions: Changing Reading Outcomes and Attitudes
Transforming Reading Through Personalised Support
Reading is the gateway to learning. Yet for many young people arriving in secondary school, reading remains a significant challenge. Difficulties with decoding, fluency, and comprehension can limit access to the curriculum, impact confidence, and ultimately affect educational outcomes.
As part of the Making Friends with a Book research project, funded by The Laurel Trust and delivered across schools in the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, we set out to explore how targeted literacy interventions could support students who were struggling with reading. We are now in coming to the end of the third year of running these interventions in secondary schools in LBBD, the findings have been encouraging, demonstrating that carefully designed support can improve not only reading attainment but also students’ confidence, engagement, and enjoyment of reading.
Literacy Skills for Secondary
Intensive One-to-One Support: Accelerating Progress
The first intervention focused on students who were significantly behind their peers in reading. Through regular one-to-one sessions, literacy mentors provided structured support tailored to each student’s specific needs.
The results were striking. Most students made the equivalent of two years’ progress in reading age over a twenty-week period. While every learner’s journey is different, these outcomes demonstrate the power of personalised intervention when support is targeted and consistent.
However, the impact extended beyond assessment scores. Students showed increased confidence in their reading abilities and were more willing to engage with increasingly challenging texts. For many, reading became less of a source of frustration and more of an achievable challenge.
Talk Through Text
Small Group Support: Developing Comprehension and Engagement
The second intervention focused on students who could decode text but found it difficult to understand and interpret increasingly complex material.
Working in small groups, students explored comprehension strategies, discussed texts, and developed their ability to think critically about what they were reading. Progress was evident in their improved comprehension skills, but some of the most powerful outcomes were found in students’ attitudes towards reading.
At the end of the twelve-week programme, every participating student reported enjoying reading more than they had before. Many described reading voluntarily outside intervention sessions and seeking recommendations from their literacy mentors.
This finding aligns strongly with the recent Little Wandle CODE Project report on Reading for Pleasure, which highlights the importance of creating positive reading experiences and helping young people develop a genuine reading identity. The report reinforces what many educators already know: when students choose to read for enjoyment, the benefits extend well beyond literacy outcomes, influencing academic achievement, wellbeing, and lifelong learning habits.
You can read the full Little Wandle CODE Project Report on Reading for Pleasure here:
https://cdn.ourfp.org/wp-content/uploads/20260507104930/Little-Wandle-CODE_Project-Report-on-Reading-for-Pleasure.pdf
Building Confidence Across the Curriculum
One of the most encouraging findings was the impact the literacy interventions had beyond the reading sessions themselves.
Teachers reported noticeable improvements in classroom participation. Students who had previously been hesitant to contribute began volunteering answers, discussing texts more confidently, and sharing their opinions during lessons.
These changes suggest that improving reading skills has a wider influence on learning behaviours. As students become more confident readers, they are better equipped to access curriculum content, engage in classroom discussions, and participate fully in their education.
A School Perspective
The impact of the programme has also been recognised by school leaders. Reflecting on the first year of implementation at Barking Abbey School, Robert Black highlighted both the progress achieved and the opportunities for further development:
“We have explored several options regarding robust small group and individual reading intervention programmes, and it is encouraging to now see this vision taking shape after a very successful first year under Louise Harding’s instruction. A key strength of this work has been empowering our librarians to deliver a programme that is both meaningful and impactful for our students.
Early indications suggest that all of the students involved have improved their reading skills. Our next focus is on ensuring that staff across the school are well informed and equipped to support these students, while also expanding our reach to work with a greater number of students. Central to this is improving how we identify and match students to the most appropriate interventions, so that each individual receives targeted, effective support that maximises their progress.”
Robert’s comments reflect an important lesson from the project: sustainable literacy improvement is not simply about delivering interventions. It is about creating a whole-school culture where staff understand literacy needs, interventions are carefully matched to students, and reading development is everyone’s responsibility.
What Does This Mean for Schools?
The findings from the third year of running these intervention in secondary schools in LBBD demonstrate that targeted literacy support can make a significant difference when it is carefully designed and responsive to individual needs.
For students with decoding difficulties, intensive one-to-one intervention can accelerate progress and help close longstanding attainment gaps. For students whose challenges lie in comprehension, small-group support can strengthen understanding while also fostering engagement and enjoyment.
Importantly, the outcomes show that successful literacy interventions do more than improve test scores. They help students develop confidence, strengthen their identity as readers, and increase their participation in learning across the curriculum.
Looking Ahead
Perhaps the most encouraging outcome of all was seeing students who had previously struggled with reading begin to choose reading for themselves.
This mirrors the message emerging from the wider Reading for Pleasure research community: attainment matters, but developing motivated, engaged readers matters too. When young people move from viewing reading as something they have to do to something they want to do, the impact can last far beyond school.
Targeted support can transform reading outcomes. The challenge now is to build on these successes and reach more students across more schools.
This is exactly the thinking underpinning the Literacy Skills Courses and Talk Through Text programmes being delivered at BDSIP, which support schools to provide carefully matched literacy intervention for students with different reading needs.
Schools interested in finding out more about these programmes, or exploring how they could support their students in the next academic year, can contact Louise Harding at Louise.Harding@bdsip.co.uk.
Louise Harding June 2026
