Reading speed test

A review that pooled 18,573 readers from many earlier studies found that most adults read English non-fiction silently at between 175 and 300 words per minute^[1]. The review gives a range, not a spread around an average, so we show your result beside that range and do not place you among those readers.

Speed alone says little. Reading faster while understanding less is not better reading, which is why the questions decide whether a reading counts. Easy texts are read faster than hard ones, and stories faster than explanations, so compare your results on this page with each other rather than with a speed you read somewhere else.

The text was written for this site in plain English, about a subject most people know a little about, so that knowing the subject well does not make much difference. The questions ask about what the text says, not about what you knew before.

The clock runs from the screen frame in which the text first appears to your press of the button. A browser can measure that to within a few hundredths of a second, which is far more exact than a reading needs.

Some readings are kept but not compared: when too few answers were right, and when the text was gone again sooner than anyone could have read it. We say which one it was, without blame. A reading during which the page went into the background does not count at all.

• The text: short, common words and short sentences are quicker to read.
• What you know: a subject you know well reads faster.
• The screen: small or faint letters slow most people down.
• Being tired: most people read slower and remember less late in the day.
• The language: most people read their first language fastest.

Reading a lot makes most people faster over time, because familiar words are recognised at a glance. Courses that promise to multiply your speed usually teach skimming: you see more words a minute but understand less of them. The best way to read faster and still understand is to read more, and to read things you enjoy.