London is in the grip of a literacy crisis. One million people in this great city cannot read.

The scandal goes to the heart of our education system. One in four children is practically illiterate on leaving primary school.

This betrayal has created a generation incapable of deciphering basic words on timetables, receipts or medicine labels. In an exposé starting today, we investigate the true extent of illiteracy in the capital and why years of government initiatives and investment have failed to solve the problem.

London has unrivalled bookshops, libraries, publishers and writers. It is a world centre for the written word, yet one in three children grows up without a single book of their own. That number is rising. Without books, they have a much greater chance of spending a lifetime unable to read.

The cost to them and to us is incalculable.

Read our shocking exposé in full here

Why does one school fail where another succeeds?

Comment from Sir Jim Rose, former Director of Ofsted: Getting it right from the start is crucial

Illiteracy in London: The facts...

1 in 4 children in London leaves primary school at 11 unable to read or write properly

1 in 5 leaves secondary school without being able to read or write with confidence

One million (or one in six) working adults in the capital cannot read with confidence. Nationally, five per cent of adults in England have literacy skills either at or below the level of a seven-year-old

16 per cent is the estimated proportion of 16- to 65-year-olds with the reading age of an 11-year-old. Of these, about five per cent are believed to have skills at the same level or below that of a seven-year-old

40 per cent of 11-year-olds from inner-city primary schools have a reading age of between six and nine when they start secondary school

1 in 5 pupils at inner London schools has special educational needs, such as dyslexia

40 per cent of London firms say their employees have poor literacy skills - and report that it has a negative impact on their business