English reading level test — 2 minutes, 24 words
This free test takes about two minutes and gives you a clear, honest picture of your English reading level. You'll see 24 words drawn from Beeblio's frequency bands — 300, 800, 1,500, 3,000, 5,000, 8,000, and 12,000 most common words — and simply tick the ones you know. Because the words are ranked by how often they appear in real English text (using the wordfreq corpus), your answers map directly onto the kind of everyday reading you can handle comfortably.
The result tells you which band you sit in: for example, if you know the top 1,500 words, you can understand roughly 80% of most everyday texts — enough to follow the news, short stories, and casual conversation. Below that band, reading feels like hard work; above it, things get noticeably easier and more enjoyable.
Once you have your band, Beeblio colour-codes any text you paste so you can see at a glance which words are within reach and which are genuinely new. The test is a starting point — honest, quick, and free.
How it works
You see 24 English words, from the most common down to rank 12,000, and say for each whether you know it. Knowing at least two thirds of a band's words passes that band; your level is the highest band passed. No account, two minutes.
The bands
- First words — the top 300 words
- Getting by — the top 800 words
- Everyday — the top 1,500 words
- Confident — the top 3,000 words
- Fluent reader — the top 5,000 words
- Advanced — the top 8,000 words
- Near-native — the top 12,000 words
Sample words from the test
- which (top 300)
- years (top 300)
- under (top 300)
- god (top 300)
- several (top 800)
- major (top 800)
- wife (top 800)
- al (top 800)
- deep (top 1,500)
- kept (top 1,500)
- growing (top 1,500)
- crime (top 1,500)
Questions
How accurate is a 24-word test?
Frequency-ranked vocabulary tests are well-established in language research: a small, carefully chosen sample of words spread across difficulty bands gives a reliable estimate of overall vocabulary size. The result won't be perfect to the nearest hundred words, but it's accurate enough to put you in the right band and recommend texts at the right level.
What exactly does my band mean for reading?
Your band is the number of the most common English words you're likely to know — for instance, 'top 1,500' means you're comfortable with the 1,500 most frequent words in everyday English. The roughly 1,500 most frequent words cover about 80% of typical text, so reaching that band is a real turning point where reading starts to feel much more natural.
Can I retake the test or improve my band?
Yes — you can retake the test any time, and your band will update as your vocabulary grows. The best way to move up a band is to read regularly at your current level using Beeblio's colour-coded reader, which helps you notice and learn the words just beyond what you already know.