08/09/2026
The Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa) report was published today and has warned of a worldwide decline in teenagers' reading skills.
Strong critical evaluation of information has been challenged by hasty reading, rushing through texts to give quick and incorrect answers, with the share of hasty readers having doubled between 2018 and 2025. Developing deep critical reading skills is essential not only for the purposes of exams, but also in the age of AI, it's imperative that teenagers can analyse and evaluate information.
Scholastic's Complete Annotated Texts support the development of these skills by teaching pupils how to dissect a text ahead in preparation for their English Literature GCSE. Alongside the full text, there are detailed annotations relating to the characters, themes, context and structure of the novel or play. Key quotations are highlighted and analysed in a dedicated section and unfamiliar or archaic language is explained directly next to the text and in a glossary at the back of the book.
The Complete Annotated Texts are available for Macbeth and A Christmas Carol and can be purchased individually or as class packs on our website at shop.scholastic.co.uk/education/gcse/complete-annotated-texts
Source: OECD (2026), PISA 2025 Results (Volume I): Future-Ready Students, PISA, OECD Publishing, Paris, https://doi.org/10.1787/73451bc5-en.