Little is known of the changes in reading attainment that take place after the years of compulsory education and yet this is an important aspect of intellectual development which has implications for adult literacy provision. Longitudinal studies of cognitive behaviour have demonstrated that improvements in performance can take place until late adulthood and, further, that some individuals show greater gains than others. Recent surveys of adult literacy students have indicated that certain sections of the population are particularly motivated to seek advancement in respect of their reading skills.Results from the MRC National Survey of Health and Development show a substantial improvement in reading attainment between the ages of 15 and 26, including a fall in the percentage of very poor readers. Appreciable normative change took place over this interval and this relative movement was associated with several features of individual life‐histories, including further education, employment, health and family background. These findings reinforce the contention that early adulthood is not a period of intellectual stagnation and that development during this period is influenced by many events and circumstance