Why author visits are so important for schools | Series 1, Episode 37

Episode 37 transcript

Why author visits are so important for schools

A good author visit does something a lesson cannot quite replicate. It puts a real person next to the books pupils see on shelves and in class. Children get to ask questions, hear how stories are made, and watch an adult talk about reading and writing as something that happens in real life, not only in exercise books.

Schools are not guessing about whether this matters. The Society of Authors has reported that 99.4% of schools that hosted an author visit described it as invaluable, linked to reading for pleasure, wider reading and creative writing. That kind of near-unanimous feedback is unusual in education.

This matters even more against a tougher national picture. The National Literacy Trust’s Annual Literacy Survey work shows that reading enjoyment is low. In 2024, 34.6% of children and young people aged 8 to 18 said they enjoyed reading in their free time. In 2025, the Trust reported 32.7% for the same measure and age band, described as the lowest level since it first asked the question in 2005. When reading for pleasure is slipping, schools tend to look harder at anything that can genuinely shift attitudes.

What the evidence says about visits and literacy

The most direct UK evidence on visits comes from the National Literacy Trust. Its 2019 report found strong associations between having a writer visit and higher self-reported reading and writing engagement, including a higher proportion reading above the expected level for age. The Trust is careful about claims of cause and effect, but the pattern is steady enough to take seriously.

In 2023, it repeated that work and found access is limited. Only 21.3% of children and young people aged 8 to 18 said they had had an author visit at their school, down 5.6 percentage points from 2019. Those who had experienced a visit were more likely to say they enjoyed reading in their free time (58.6% vs 39.3%) and enjoyed writing in their free time (43.2% vs 32.2%).

There is also an equity issue. Fewer pupils in schools with a high proportion eligible for free school meals reported having had a visit (16.7%) than those in schools with low FSM proportions (24.7%).

That matters because reading for pleasure is not a soft extra. UK analysis from UCL and colleagues, using cohort data, has linked reading for pleasure in childhood with later progress in vocabulary, spelling and maths between ages 10 and 16. Government-commissioned evidence reviews have also summarised the wider research base, including the relationship between reading enjoyment, frequency and attainment

A visit will not fix literacy on its own. What it can do is nudge the conditions that make reading and writing more likely: motivation, identity, and the sense that books are for people like me.

Why reluctant readers often respond

Teachers and librarians often say the biggest change is not among the children who already read everything. It is the pupils who rarely pick up a book, or who think reading is a test they keep failing.

Part of the reason is simple. Authors can be honest about what school felt like for them. When a visiting writer talks about struggling with writing, finding some subjects hard, or finding reading tiring at times, it gives pupils a more realistic model of literacy as something you work at, not something you either have or you do not have. It is not a motivational speech. It is a concrete story about effort, drafting, and sticking with it.

Reluctant readers also benefit from permission to choose. Many authors talk about the kinds of books they loved at different ages, what they abandoned, and what hooked them back in. That can help children see that taste changes, and that reading is not meant to be one narrow thing.

The hidden win: talk, questions, and oracy

A strong visit is full of structured talk. Pupils listen, ask questions, follow up, and try out vocabulary that sits naturally in a real conversation about stories, characters, research, illustration, and revision.

That connects with a separate evidence base. The Education Endowment Foundation’s review of oral language interventions concludes that improving spoken language and classroom talk can support learning, with average positive impacts reported across phases. Schools that plan an author visit well can turn it into a high-quality, talk-rich event without inventing a new programme.

Format matters too. A single hall assembly can be memorable, but small group workshops, Q and A sessions, and paired talk tasks built around the visit usually create far more speaking opportunities.

Visits that lift the whole reading culture

The day does not end when the author leaves. Libraries often see an immediate run on the visitor’s books, plus a wider rise in borrowing of similar titles, genres and themes.

Teachers often pick up fresh ways to link reading into curriculum areas, not as bolt-on activities but as a way into history, science, PSHE, or art.

It also helps when adults in school are visibly involved. If staff are sitting at the back marking, pupils notice. Some guidance aimed at schools is blunt about this. Adults present should model engagement during sessions, because disengagement signals that the event is not worth attention. It is a small behaviour change with a big cultural payoff.

Money, time, and the professional reality

None of this works if schools treat a visit as a free favour. Authors are self-employed professionals, and school events take time to prepare, deliver, and travel to. The document shared with me gives typical headline costs: £500 to £600 for a full day, £250 to £300 for a half day, and £800 to £1,000 or more for high-profile authors, plus travel and sometimes accommodation. For many primaries, that is a serious spend.

The budgeting conversation is also an access conversation. If the schools with the highest need are least likely to host visits, it is worth asking what can shift the model. Clustering across local schools to share travel costs can help, as can booking local authors, using library partnerships, or using charitable programmes that subsidise events.

Book sales and signing lines need careful handling too. Some schools arrange sales through local independent bookshops, sometimes with sale or return terms, and communicate clearly with parents in advance. If families are asked to buy, schools need a plan that does not exclude pupils whose parents cannot or will not pay.

Safeguarding and practical planning

An author visit is still a school day, with school rules. Safeguarding expectations should be explicit. The same document states plainly that visiting authors are never to be left alone with children. Schools should treat that as standard practice, with named staff responsibility, clear rooming, and supervision.

Planning is also where impact is won or lost. Preparation matters because pupils engage more when they already know something about the writer and their work. That can be as simple as reading extracts aloud, building questions, putting up displays, and giving pupils a reason to care about the visitor’s themes.

Details should be agreed in writing: timings, year groups, session formats, technical needs, and what the school wants pupils to do before and after the day.

Teachers do not need to turn the visit into assessed work. A better approach is to make sure there is follow-up: library displays, reading recommendations, short writing bursts, illustration tasks, or class book discussions that keep the momentum.

Virtual visits are never second best if they are designed well

Remote sessions cut travel costs and make it easier to reach rural schools or schools with tight budgets. They can also widen the range of creators a school can bring in, including those with access needs that make travel difficult. The downside is that a screen can flatten the interaction if pupils are passive, and everyone has sat through enough of those to know how quickly attention drifts.

Virtual works best when schools build in questions, live chat, small group follow-ups, and clear routines for attention. It should still be treated as a special event, with preparation, adult participation, and post-visit work, not a filler for a wet afternoon.

The takeaway headline

Author visits are a peculiar form of magic. They are one of the few literacy strategies that combine evidence linked to reading enjoyment, a strong school culture effect, and a practical route into talk and writing for a wide range of pupils, including those who do not normally see themselves as readers. It’s a win, whatever page you’re reading.

Further reading and resources:

• Browse our directory of authors, illustrators and poets who offer visits to schools in the UK and Ireland.
• National Literacy Trust report on author visits in schools in 2023, including engagement differences by FSM profile.
• National Literacy Trust 2019 report on writer visits and links with reading and writing engagement.
• National Literacy Trust Annual Literacy Survey report on children and young people’s reading in 2025.
• National Literacy Trust Annual Literacy Survey report on children and young people’s reading in 2024.
• Society of Authors downloadable guide for schools organising an author visit. https://societyofauthors.org/download/a-guide-for-schools-organising-an-author-visit/
• Society of Authors resource hub, including guidance on fees and virtual visits.
• Education Endowment Foundation overview of oral language interventions and what the evidence says.
• UCL IOE summary of cohort research linking reading for pleasure with later educational progress.
• Department for Education evidence review on reading for pleasure.
• BookTrust explainer on why author visits matter, with practical, school-focused context.