At Bookmark, our mission is clear: we improve children’s literacy by promoting a reading for pleasure culture in primary schools, with a focus on supporting children in the most disadvantaged communities.

We focus our efforts on schools located in disadvantaged communities, where the barriers to literacy can significantly limit a child’s educational journey and future opportunities. By working closely with these schools, we ensure our support reaches the children who need it most.

Who we support: our eligibility criteria

To maximise our impact, we have developed a clear eligibility criteria to identify schools most in need of our support. Based on these criteria, we expect over 3,000 schools across the country to be eligible for our support. Our regional expansion strategy is carefully designed to focus on areas where our efforts can make the greatest difference.

Here’s how we select our partner schools:

1. Lower than average Key Stage 2 reading attainment

We prioritise schools where children’s reading skills are below the national average at Key Stage 2, recognising that these children face greater challenges in literacy.

2. Higher than average proportion of children eligible for pupil premium

The Pupil Premium grant is government funding aimed at closing the educational gap for disadvantaged pupils in state-funded schools. Schools with a higher proportion of Pupil Premium-eligible children indicate greater socioeconomic disadvantage.

3. Higher than average income deprivation affecting children index score

This index measures the proportion of children living in the most deprived areas. Schools with higher IDACI scores serve communities facing significant economic hardship.

By combining these criteria, we create a detailed needs analysis for each area. Importantly, we also assess the support already provided by other charities and organisation’s to avoid duplicating efforts and ensure resources are used efficiently. This collaborative approach means we reach more schools and children in need.

Case study: building a reading culture in Rochdale

In March 2025, we proudly delivered over £58,000 worth of books to 29 primary schools across Rochdale through our Your Story Corner programme. That’s a remarkable 5,800 books empowering schools to cultivate a whole-school reading culture – right where it matters most.

Children in Rochdale are facing significant challenges when it comes to literacy, with a large number of pupils falling below the expected reading levels compared to the national average. Discover how Rochdale met our elibiltity criteria here.

Our impact

The impact from our delivery to Rochdale has been overwhelmingly positive:

“These books have enhanced our children’s enjoyment of reading and aligned perfectly with our curriculum – making learning more exciting and meaningful’ - Teacher at a Bookmark partner school in Rochdale.

‘Bookmark’s free books and resources have positively impacted children’s reading enjoyment and motivation by giving them access to high-quality, engaging books they can own, allowing them to choose stories that match their interests, and building their confidence through supportive, personalised reading experiences. This has helped foster a love of reading and encouraged long-term reading habits, especially among children who may not otherwise have access to such resources’ – Teacher at a Bookmark partner school in Rochdale.

We also measured the impact across multiple aspects of reading and wellbeing:

74% of schools reported an improvement in their whole-school reading culture
68% saw increased pupil awareness of reading and how to choose what to read
79% noted greater variety in the types of texts pupils read
84% noticed pupils are reading more frequently
42% saw improvements in pupil wellbeing linked to reading

These statistics highlight how providing high-quality, engaging books can transform the educational environment – supporting not only academic outcomes but also the emotional and mental wellbeing of pupils.

At Bookmark, we believe every child deserves the opportunity to become a confident reader. Through careful selection of partner schools and strong collaboration with communities, we are dedicated to driving meaningful, lasting change.

Looking ahead to 2027, our strategic goal is to expand our network to 1,000 partner schools, focusing on reaching those in the most disadvantaged areas.

By pursuing the priorities outlined in our strategy report, we are committed to ensuring that our work continues to create real and lasting impact for children who need it most.

How we support schools in disadvantaged communities