Everybody Reads
Aberdeen City Council
Everybody Reads for Aberdeen City Council
A proposal for the Aberdeen City Council central team to consider: a council-led extended trial with schools you choose, free central in-person training including school visits, and pricing linked to the Pupil Equity Fund.
Prepared for Charlie Love, Quality Improvement Officer (Digital), and Linsey Hay, Education Support Officer, at Aberdeen City Council, following our conversation on 11 November 2026.
About Everybody Reads
Everybody Reads is an adaptive reading platform that gives every child a book they can, and want to, read. Stories and non-fiction texts are levelled precisely to each pupil's reading age and built around their interests, with characters that reflect the children reading them.
Everybody Reads in 3 minutes Video · 3:00
- Every pupil is the hero. Pupils create their own character, from glasses and hairstyles to a communication device or a wheelchair, and that character appears on every page.
- Built around what they love. Football, space, dinosaurs or a favourite video game: one word is enough to create a brand-new book in seconds.
- Levelled to their exact reading age. Vocabulary, sentence length and question difficulty all match where each pupil actually is, so everyone can read it.
- Support for every reader. Bigger text, wider spacing, read-aloud and decodable challenge words, so early readers and pupils with dyslexia read the same stories as everyone else.
- Comprehension built in. Every chapter ends with a quiz and instant, positive feedback. Then the pupil chooses what happens next, taking charge of their own reading.
- Data that drives teaching. See your class's strengths and gaps across every reading skill, then click into any pupil for their reading age, books read, time spent and every answer.
- Teachers stay in control. Update a pupil's reading age at any point based on your own judgement, or let it adapt automatically as they progress.
- Rich vocabulary. We track every word each pupil has met and weave in the ones they haven't, so they build the vocabulary for their age.
New feature
The Teacher Book Generator
Your average classroom has up to a six-year range in reading ability. The Book Generator lets you create a personalised, levelled book for every pupil in your class, on any topic you're teaching, in seconds.
One lesson topicVolcanoes
Amir saw the volcano. It was big and hot. Red lava came out of the top.
As Amir climbed higher, the ground felt warm. Deep inside the volcano, melted rock called magma was bubbling up.
Amir watched as pressure built beneath the Earth's crust, forcing molten magma up through a vent until it erupted as a river of glowing lava.
Same facts. Same learning objective. Every pupil reading at their own level.
Teacher Book Generator Video · 1:06
- Type your lesson concept, choose your class and generate
- Keep, delete or add facts so every book matches your learning objectives, or extract them from BBC Bitesize, YouTube or a worksheet
- Every pupil receives their own version, levelled to their reading age, with them as the main character
30 students. 30 books. 30 levels. 30 seconds.
The evidence
2.6x faster reading gains
In an independent study by the University of Strathclyde, students using Everybody Reads showed 2.6x faster reading gains than typical progress over the same period (443 students, January to April 2026).
Read the research findings (opens in a new tab)
Pupil Equity Fund pricing
FREE for every pupil registered for free school meals
Everybody Reads was founded to close the poverty-related attainment gap in reading, and our pricing reflects that. Schools serving more families on low incomes should never pay more to give every child a book they can read.
Each school's discount matches its percentage of pupils registered for free school meals, the measure used to allocate Pupil Equity Funding, up to 50% of the roll. In practice, those pupils go free, and the rest of the licence sits comfortably within a PEF plan.
- Each school shares its free school meals percentage.
- We apply a matching discount to the whole-school licence, up to 50%.
- Every pupil gets full access, whatever their background.
Example: a class of 30 with 30% registered for free school meals
Free school meals (free)Other pupils
Discount matched to each school's free school meals percentage, capped at 50%.
For the central team
What Aberdeen City Council receives
This is a proposal for the central team to discuss. You decide whether to go ahead and which schools to invite into an extended trial, and we support every school you bring in.
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Proposed perk
Free central in-person training
Central training sessions in Aberdeen for staff from participating schools, plus in-person school visits to support teachers in their own classrooms.
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Proposed perk
An extended trial
An extended trial well beyond our standard 30 days, for the schools the central team selects, so there's time to see a real impact on reading.
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Pupil Equity Fund pricing
Each school's discount matches its free school meals percentage, so those pupils effectively go free. See how it works.
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Up and running in 24 hours
Share class lists and our team creates every teacher and pupil account for each school. No usernames to invent and nothing to install.
How a council-led trial would work
- Agree the approachThe central team agrees the scope, length and success measures of the trial with us.
- Invite schoolsThe council approaches the schools it would like involved, whether a cluster, a priority group or a mix.
- Train and launchWe set every school up within 24 hours, train staff centrally and visit schools in person.
- Review the impactWe share reading-age, comprehension and engagement data with the central team to inform next steps.
Questions from the central team
Tap a question to see the answer.
Who decides which schools take part?
The central team. You choose which schools to approach, whether that's a cluster, a group of priority schools or a mix, and we support each school the council brings in.
How long would the extended trial run?
Well beyond our standard 30-day trial. We'll agree the length with the central team so there's enough time to measure a real impact on reading.
What does the in-person training include?
Central training sessions in Aberdeen for staff from participating schools, plus school visits. We cover setting up classes, getting pupils reading, using the Book Generator and reading the progress data.
How does Pupil Equity Fund pricing work?
Each school's discount matches its percentage of pupils registered for free school meals, capped at 50%. If 30% of a school's pupils are registered, the school receives 30% off its whole-school licence.
Who sets up the accounts?
We do. Each school shares its class lists and we create every teacher and pupil login within 24 hours. Pupils don't need email addresses.
Which pupils is it suitable for?
Texts are levelled for reading ages 5 to 12, so it works across primary, secondary and specialist settings, including pupils with additional support needs and those learning English as an additional language.
Is it already used by other Scottish councils?
Yes. Everybody Reads is used in schools across three Scottish local authorities, and our impact is being independently evaluated with the University of Strathclyde.
Another question? Email info@everybodyreads.org.uk and we'll help.
Next step
Ready to talk it through?
We'd love to agree how a council-led extended trial could work for Aberdeen City schools. Book a call with the Everybody Reads team, or email us with any questions from the central team.
Happy Reading! Team Everybody Reads
info@everybodyreads.org.uk www.everybodyreads.org.uk (opens in a new tab)
© Everybody Reads Ltd