Readability checker
Paste your essay to get its Flesch Reading Ease score, Flesch–Kincaid grade level and Gunning Fog index, with the longest sentences highlighted so you know what to fix.
How readability scores work
Rudolf Flesch published the Reading Ease formula in 1948; J. Peter Kincaid adapted it into a US grade level for the US Navy in 1975. Both measure only sentence length and word length, which is why they are quick, objective, and blind to meaning.
The Flesch Reading Ease formula only looks at two things. Drag them and watch the score move.
206.835 − 1.015 × 22 − 84.6 × 1.60 = 49
Difficult (college). Flesch–Kincaid grade ≈ 11.9. Academic essays usually land between 30 and 50; that is normal for college-level ideas.
What score should an essay have?
| Flesch score | Reads like | Grade level |
|---|---|---|
| 70–100 | Children's books, simple web copy | 5–7 |
| 60–70 | Plain English, news articles | 8–9 |
| 50–60 | High school essays, quality press | 10–12 |
| 30–50 | University essays, academic writing | 13–16 |
| 0–30 | Journal articles, legal text | College graduate+ |
A lower score isn't "better academic writing". Clear essays that express complex ideas in readable sentences score higher and are easier to mark. If your score is under 30, look for sentences over 30 words and long nominalisations ("the implementation of" → "implementing").
Questions students ask
What is a good Flesch Reading Ease score?
For general readers, 60–70. For university essays, 30–50 is typical. Scores are a guide, not a grade: clarity matters more than hitting a number.
Why does my score differ from Microsoft Word?
Tools count syllables and sentences slightly differently. Expect differences of a few points; the trend when you revise matters more than the exact figure.
What is the Gunning Fog index?
Another grade-level estimate, from Robert Gunning (1952), based on sentence length and the share of words with three or more syllables.