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Frequently playing computer games appears to reduce a teenager's chances of going to university, while reading enhances the likelihood that they will go on to study for a degree, according to Oxford University research that tracked 17,000 people born in 1970.
Reading was also linked to careers success, as the research finds 16-year-olds who read books at least once a month were significantly more likely to be in a professional or managerial job at 33 than those who didn't read books at all.


For girls, there was a 39% probability that they would be in a professional or managerial position at 33 if they read at 16, compared to a 25% chance if they had not. Among boys, there was a 58% chance of being in a good job as an adult if they had read as a teenager, compared to a 48% chance if they had not. Playing computer games regularly and doing no other activities meant the chances of going to university fell from 24% to 19% for boys and from 20% to 14% for girls.
Mark Taylor, of Nuffield College, Oxford, who carried out the research, said that results indicated there was "something special" about reading for pleasure.
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