It will take two decades for only one in 10 English Literature GCSE students to encounter a text by an author of colour, a new report has revealed.
Without significant intervention, the Lit in Colour initiative warns it will be 2115 before 38 per cent of pupils – mirroring the current proportion of black, Asian, and minority ethnic students in UK schools – study a writer of colour at GCSE level.
Booker Prize-winning author Bernardine Evaristo, known for Girl, Woman, Other, emphasised the critical importance of this campaign.
She stated that increasing the number of studied writers of colour is “even more essential” today, “when the concept of diversity is under renewed attack”.
“The argument for a more diverse reading list is not an argument against the tradition, a common assumption and attack point from naysayers, but rather, it is an argument for both: books that reflect our multi-racial society and those that are rooted in its literary history,” she added.
The government must provide teachers with more support to introduce new texts into the classroom that provide all GCSE students with a more diverse choice, Lit in Colour said.
The initiative was launched by Penguin Books in 2020, when only 0.76 per cent of students in England were studying an author of colour at GCSE.
Since the launch of the campaign, this has risen to 1.9 per cent, but Lit in Colour said in its five-year report the pace of change “must be much faster”.
At the current rate of progress made, 10 per cent of students would be answering at least one question on their GCSE about a text by an author of colour by 2046, Lit in Colour said.
Penguin Books chief executive Tom Weldon said: “Through research, resources and partnerships with schools and exam boards, we’ve identified and begun to dismantle the barriers that have kept authors of colour out of the English curriculum, but the latest findings make it clear that now is not the time for complacency but rather urgency.
“As the National Year of Reading gathers momentum, there is a real opportunity for government, educators and the publishing community to work together on reform that ensures literature reflects all voices and perspectives.”
There needs to be investment so teachers and schools have equitable resources for teaching texts by authors of colour as they do for the most commonly taught texts, Lit in Colour said.
It added teachers should also have support to engage with themes of race, racism and empire where these appear in novels.
In its response to a review of the curriculum last year, the government said the new curriculum should “reflect our modern society and diverse communities”, and will allow teachers to draw on a range of content to best suit the needs of their pupils.
About English Literature specifically, the government said it wants schools to have the flexibility to choose a range of texts and authors “including those of local significance”.
Tes reported last year that in June 2024, the majority of GCSE English Literature students on the three biggest exam boards answered questions on An Inspector Calls.
As of 2025, there are eight texts by authors of colour on exam board set text lists, Lit in Colour said, up from 12 per cent in 2019.
Despite the addition of new texts, exam board AQA warned in its curriculum review submission most teachers were still choosing to deliver An Inspector Calls, which it said may be because of familiarity, lack of copies of the text, or the time needed for training and acquiring resources on new texts.
