Discover your reading speed

As well as the manual method for discovering (and later re-checking) your reading speed, you can
also complete the online (free) speed reading test that enables you to test your comprehension, at
http://www.illumine.co.uk/speed_reading.html .

Method
Find a chapter of a non-fiction book to read.

Set your timer for 1 minute.

Stop reading at the end of the minute.

Mark with a pencil, where you have got to.

Either count the words exactly or estimate as follows:

Count the number of words in two lines and divide by two so that you know approximately how
many words per line. Count up the number of lines and multiply this number by the number of
words per line.

Record your reading speed using the table below and estimate your comprehension level and record
that too.

A note about comprehension:

Your absolute level of comprehension is less important than relative comprehension – whether it
has gone up or down and whether by a little or by a lot. Our research shows that most people are
good at judging their relative comprehension, but not so good at judging their absolute
comprehension.

A good question to answer, so that you are thinking about comprehension rather than ability to
remember in the future is, ‘what score do I think I would get if I were tested on the content
immediately after I finished reading?’. i.e. comprehension is about how well you are
understanding as you are reading and it would be normal for some detail not to be fully
understood and for you to feel that there are some aspects that you would want to study more
fully. A comprehension level of between 70% and 90% would be common.

Reading Speed in Comprehension %

Words per Minute
Initial benchmark

Retest 1

Retest 2

Retest 3

Retest 4

Retest 5

Retest 6

Retest 7

When you have read this document click

on the ‘Mark as Completed’ button below ↓
and then continue with the next lecture.