Metrics Explained

What it does: This test shows how easy your text is to read.

How it works: It looks at how long your sentences are and how many syllables your words have.

The scores: You get a score from 0 to 100. Higher scores mean easier to read.

Why we use it: This test has been used since the 1940s. Governments and schools use it all over the world.

UK Reading Levels:

• 90-100 Very Easy (Primary School)
• 80-89 Easy (Year 6-7 level)
• 70-79 Fairly Easy (Year 8-9 level)
• 60-69 Standard (GCSE level)
• 50-59 Fairly Difficult (A-Level)
• 30-49 Difficult (University level)
• 0-29 Very Difficult (Postgraduate level)

What it does: This test tells you what school year you need to be in to understand the text.

How it works: It looks at sentence length and syllables to work out difficulty.

The scores: Lower school years mean easier to read.

Why we use it: The US Navy created this test in the 1970s. We changed it to use UK school years instead of American grades.

UK School Year Equivalents:

• Reception/Year 1: Ages 4-6
• Years 2-6: Ages 7-11 (Primary)
• Years 7-9: Ages 12-14 (Secondary)
• Years 10-11: Ages 15-16 (GCSE)
• Years 12-13: Ages 17-18 (A-Level)
• University: Ages 18-22
• Postgraduate: 22+ years

What it does: This test looks for hard words that people might not know.

How it works: It has a list of 3,000 easy words that most Year 4 children know. If your text uses words not on this list, they are "difficult" words.

The scores: You get a score from 0 to 10. Lower scores mean easier to read.

Why we use it: This test is better at finding difficult words than just counting syllables. It knows which words people actually find hard.

Score Interpretation:

• 4.9 or below Year 4 and below
• 5.0-5.9 Years 5-6
• 6.0-6.9 Years 7-8
• 7.0-7.9 Years 9-10
• 8.0-8.9 Years 11-12
• 9.0-9.9 Year 13 (Sixth Form)
• 10.0+ University level

What it does: This test finds long words and long sentences that make reading hard.

How it works: It counts words with 3 or more syllables. These are "complex" words.

The scores: Lower school year scores mean easier to read.

Why we use it: A newspaper publisher called Robert Gunning made this test in 1952. It is good at finding writing that is harder than it needs to be.

Target Levels:

• 6-8: Easy to read
• 9-12: Acceptable for general public
• 13-16: Difficult - university level
• 17+: Very difficult - postgraduate

What it does: This test counts letters in words instead of syllables.

How it works: It looks at how many letters are in your words and how long your sentences are.

The scores: Lower school year scores mean easier to read.

Why we use it: The US Air Force made this test in 1967. It is faster for computers to use because it counts letters, not syllables.

What makes it different:

• ✓ Does not count syllables
• ✓ Works well with technical writing
• ✓ Works the same in different languages
• ✓ Easy for computers to use

Each test is good at different things:

• Flesch Reading Ease: Most people know this test
• Flesch-Kincaid: Tells you the school year needed
• Dale-Chall: Finds words people do not know
• Gunning Fog: Finds sentences that are too long
• ARI: Easy for computers to use

Using all 5 tests together gives us:

• Better answers
• We can find different problems
• We can check our work
• We know our Easy Read version is better
• Professional results