New Literacy Studies is the theoretical basis for this research, providing a social view of literacy. Recent work in New Literacy Studies has extended further the notion of literacy and demonstrated the ways in which people engage in practices in their everyday lives that do not always get translated into their studies. This article draws on research within the Teaching and Learning Research Programme that attempts to explore these issues in the context of further education in the United Kingdom. It draws upon data collected over the last year to illustrate, first, how rich the students' home-based literacy practices are and, secondly, how these are differently mobilised within their curriculum. The article argues that an understanding of literacy as embedded in social practice could result in practices that enhance students' learning. (Contains 1 figure.)