Getting Your Teenager to Read... Is It Even Possible?

“You want the A*?  Read.” 

It’s every English teacher’s mantra, the parting shot of countless parents' evenings.  But then, I get the email: "Can you help my child finish Lord of the Flies before the exam?" -  and no, the movie doesn’t count. 

So, how do you actually get kids to read?  Spoiler alert: it’s easier than you think, but it is absolutely critical for their GCSE success.

1. Start Small, Build Confidence

You're thinking: start with the exam texts, right?  Hold on.  For kids who baulk at novels, diving into Frankenstein is like chasing the monster up those Swiss Mountains.  Instead, ease them in with shorter, modern reads - articles, stories, even football match reports. Once they get through something - anything - their confidence starts to soar.  Try, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. It's action-packed, easy to follow, and helps build the reading stamina students need for more complex GCSE texts.  Confidence is key for those dreaded unseen passages on the GCSE Language exam.  Once they've built stamina with accessible texts, the panic shifts from “What fresh hell is this?” to “I’ve got this.”

2. Make Reading Active, Not Passive

Reluctant readers aren’t lazy - they’re disengaged.  The trick?  Turn reading into an interactive game.  Don’t just plonk a novel in front of them - read together.  Get them to predict, argue, and pick apart their favourite lines - play devil’s advocate - Christopher Boone’s father is doing a great job...  The more opinions, the better.  The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. The book’s unique perspective and accessible writing make it perfect for sparking conversations and debates about characters, motivations, and language.  GCSE Literature exams are all about analysis. The more students question and critique the text, the sharper their essays will be. Examiners want students who can argue, not just summarise. If a reluctant reader becomes active, their grades can jump a level faster than you can say “AO2 Writer’s Craft.”

3. Link Reading to Real Life

Most students (and, let’s be honest, adults) think they'll never need half of what they learn. So, show them how reading is useful beyond exams.  Spot sarcasm in a novel?  That’s your WhatsApp survival skill. Understand a character’s motives? That’s your key to acing job interviews.  Animal Farm by George Orwell. It’s short, packed with real-world allegory, and perfect for helping students connect literature with history and political themes - useful for developing deeper essay responses.  Both GCSE Language and Literature require students to infer and interpret meaning.  If they can handle a short story, they can tackle exam questions too - and linking reading to real-life skills makes revision far less painful.

Wondering if your child will ever love—or even tolerate—reading? With the right approach, they’ll go from reluctant to engaged, and their GCSE results will show it. Oh, and watching the movie adaptation doesn’t hurt either. Whatever gets them reading!

Book a free 20-minute session with Sophie Welsh at The LangLit Studio. See if one-on-one tutoring is the next step for your child.

Email: thelanglitstudio@gmail.com