England's Birmingham Education Partnership (BEP) commissioned the National Literacy Trust to conduct a survey at the start of a Strategic School Improvement Fund (SSIF) project to improve reading in primary schools in the city. The survey was based on a questionnaire used nationally to gather responses from nearly 50,000 children and young people between November 2017 and January 2018. Responses to many questions could therefore be compared with the national picture for England. Some questions in the national survey, which focused on writing, were removed and replaced with questions on vocabulary and understanding so as to improve BEP's understanding of possible barriers to reading attainment. Based on data from 4,230 children aged 8 to 11 from 41 primary schools, findings include: (1) Most respondents enjoy reading; (2) Over 36% read in their free time on a daily basis; (3) Children rate their own reading skills to be very good; (4) Most children believe reading will help them learn more; (5) Most children enjoy learning new words; (6) Half of children read with someone at home, usually on a daily basis; and (7) Nearly two in three use their school library.