Test readability – Flesch Reading Ease

What is Flesch Reading Ease?

Flesch Reading Ease is a readability formula that scores English text on a scale from 0 to 100. Higher scores indicate text that is easier to read. It was developed by Rudolf Flesch in 1948 and is one of the most widely used readability metrics.

Why measure readability?

Readability scores help writers adapt their texts to a target audience. Content that is too complex risks losing readers, while overly simplified text may not convey enough depth. Monitoring readability helps strike the right balance.

How is the score calculated?

The formula is: 206.835 minus 1.015 times the average sentence length, minus 84.6 times the average number of syllables per word. Shorter sentences and fewer syllables per word produce higher (easier) scores.

Background: LIX and readability – what is it?

Test your text

English text you want to score:

This formula is designed for English text. Sentences must end with a full stop, exclamation mark or question mark.

Score interpretation

Score	Difficulty level
90–100	Very easy – understood by an average 11-year-old
80–89	Easy – conversational English
70–79	Fairly easy – suitable for a broad audience
60–69	Standard – plain English, easily understood
50–59	Fairly difficult – some specialised language
30–49	Difficult – academic or technical writing
0–29	Very difficult – best understood by specialists