The Boys' Literacy Project
A schools programme placing athletes into secondary schools to get boys reading.
This is a project I’ve worked on behind the scenes for the past 2 years. There’s plenty of information on my Substack and right now, we’re looking for a Founding Partner to scale the project up and impact more boys.
If you want to support the project, contact me directly.
A Summary
The problem Boys aren't failing to read because they can't — they're choosing not to. Somewhere between 11 and 14, reading gets tied up with tests, academia, and a sense that it isn't for them, and they walk away from it. Just 17.5% of boys now read daily, the lowest figure on record.
When Parliament's Education Committee examined this, the country's leading literacy experts confirmed there is no proven strategy that reliably turns it around.
This is a culture and identity problem before it's a literacy one.
The approach
The Project reframes reading as growth, strength, and ambition rather than instruction — and it changes who delivers the message. A professional athlete who reads carries an authority the classroom can't easily replicate: living proof that reading and ambition belong together. The messenger matters as much as the message.
The programme Three face-to-face sessions, delivered over multiple visits:
Identity, Possibility and Heroism — heroes, the hero's journey, and reading reframed as strength.
Quiet Heroism — built around one short, powerful book (this year, Claire Keegan's Small Things Like These). Discussion-led, high expectations, no tests.
Reflection and the Road Ahead — what changed, who you're becoming, and an invitation to keep going. Every boy leaves with something to take with him.
The evidence Piloted at Ferndown Upper School:
A-Level English uptake among boys rose from 0% to 50%.
The attainment gap closed by a third, with disadvantaged boys benefiting the most.
Behaviour incidents fell by 13 a term.
Boys became the best-attending group and more open to further educational interventions.
Where it's going The long-term model recruits other athletes who love reading to stand in front of boys and do the same. Role models and face-to-face contact are the irreplaceable parts. The boys are always the primary beneficiaries.
Get in touch if you want to help us take this to the next level.