2026 Premier’s Reading Challenge is one for the books

The Crisafulli Government is celebrating 21 years of the Premier’s Reading Challenge which inspires a love of reading among students and helps to lift literacy results across Queensland.   

More than 207,000 students from 884 schools participated in the Challenge, along with 13,000 children from early childhood services and individual home readers, who collectively read more than 1.93 million books.  

The Crisafulli Government is getting back to the basics in education with a greater focus on reading, literacy and numeracy and helping kids catch up, keep up and stay in school, after a decade of decline under the former Labor Government allowed student grades to fall below the national average.  

Through the Challenge, children across early childhood to Year 9 were encouraged to read 15 or 20 books, depending on their year level, while additional reading and literacy resources rolled out across Queensland state schools to boost student results.  

Across Queensland:  

• Central Queensland: 16,144 students from 107 schools, read 150,515 books. 
• Darling Downs South West: 13,761 students from 126 schools, read 115,471 books.  
• North Queensland: 8,975 students from 63 schools, read 82,925 books.  
• Far North Queensland: 8,600 students from 55 schools, read 102,934 books.  
• Metropolitan North: 30,799 students from 117 schools, read 374,393 books.
• Metropolitan South: 52,841 students from 151 schools, read 428,140 books.  
• North Coast: 36,000 students from 145 schools, read 313,241 books.  
• South East: 40,697 students from 120 schools, read 323,196 books.  

Minister for Education John-Paul Langbroek said reading was the foundation of literacy, leading to improvements in vocabulary, writing and creativity.    

“The 2026 Premier’s Reading Challenge was such a success with students from every corner of the state taking part,” Minister Langbroek said.   

“The focus on reading is part of our back-to-basics approach to lift results and make sure kids catch up, keep up and stay in school.  

“The Crisafulli Government is delivering mandatory Year 1 phonics and numeracy checks to measure progress and provide students with support sooner, leaving no one behind.  

“We’re continuing to remove red tape for teachers through a suite of actions that reduce administration and unnecessary paperwork to give them more time in the classroom focusing on teaching.” 

Principal of Spring Mountain State School Cherie Moore said the Premier’s Reading Challenge had been a wonderful opportunity to encourage students to explore a wide range of books and build their confidence as readers.  

“It complements the work we do every day at school to foster a lifelong love of reading and strengthen literacy skills,” Principal Moore said. 

Students who completed the Challenge will receive Certificates of Achievement and schools with a 100 per cent completion rate have the chance to win prizes. The Challenge is proudly supported by its official sponsor, the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) Faculty of Creative Industries, Education and Social Justice.  

ENDS 

MEDIA CONTACT: Kate Rogers, 0426 414 298 

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION 

Top schools in each region: 

• Central Queensland - St Paul's Catholic Primary School (Gracemere) read 13,572 books.
• Darling Downs South West - Chinchilla State School read 6,940 books. 
• North Queensland - St Francis' School (Ayr) read 9,895 books. 
• Far North Queensland - Bentley Park College read 21,874 books. 
• Metropolitan North - Aspley East State School read 30,000 books.  
• Metropolitan South - Spring Mountain State School read 42,296 books.  
• North Coast - Noosaville State School read 20,720 books.  
• South East - Somerset College (Mudgeeraba) read 18,079 books.