Children allocated to the intervention group received the Time to Read program for one academic year between October 2009 and June 2010. Each pupil in the intervention group was paired with two mentors and spent two half hour sessions every week (60 minutes in total) reading on a one to-one basis with their mentor (s). The mentoring sessions took place outside the classroom setting in a separate room. Schools taking part in the program were provided with a supply of books that the mentor and pupil could choose from for their session. However, pupils were also free to choose books other than those supplied if they so wished. The control group continued with usual classroom activity while children in the intervention group took part in Time to Read.