Why GCSE students studying books from authors of colour is ‘even more essential’ in 2026
Initiative warns progress on authors of colour in GCSE English is decades away
- A new report indicates it will take two decades for only one in 10 English Literature GCSE students to encounter a text by an author of colour.
- The Lit in Colour initiative warns that without significant intervention, it will be 2115 before 38 per cent of pupils, reflecting the UK's BAME student proportion, study a writer of colour at GCSE level.
- Booker Prize-winning author Bernardine Evaristo emphasised the critical importance of increasing diverse reading lists, particularly as the concept of diversity is under "renewed attack".
- Since its launch in 2020, the Lit in Colour campaign has seen the percentage of students studying an author of colour rise from 0.76 per cent to 1.9 per cent, but states the pace of change "must be much faster".
- The initiative calls for government support and investment to provide teachers with resources for introducing new texts, noting that many educators still choose traditional texts like An Inspector Calls due to familiarity.