Fogg’s Test of Readability

Reading Age Level of Materials Based on Fogg’s Index

Sample size = 100 words.

Number of Sentences (N)

4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30 32 34

0 12.5 10.0 8.8 8.0 7.5 7.1 6.9 6.7 6.5 6.4 6.3 6.2 6.1 6.0 5.9 5.9

1 12.8 10.3 9.1 8.3 7.8 7.4 7.2 7.0 6.8 6.7 6.6 6.5 6.4 6.3 6.2 6.2
Number of 3 Syll-a-ble words (S)

2 13.1 10.6 9.4 8.6 8.1 7.7 7.5 7.3 7.1 7.0 6.9 6.8 6.7 6.6 6.5 6.5

3 13.4 10.9 9.7 8.9 8.4 8.0 7.8 7.6 7.4 7.3 7.2 7.1 7.0 6.9 6.8 6.8

4 13.7 11.2 10.0 9.2 8.7 8.3 8.1 7.9 7.7 7.6 7.5 7.4 7.3 7.2 7.1 7.1

5 14.0 11.5 10.3 9.5 9.0 8.6 8.4 8.2 8.0 7.9 7.8 7.7 7.6 7.5 7.4 7.4

6 14.3 11.8 10.6 9.8 9.3 8.9 8.7 8.5 8.3 8.2 8.1 8.0 7.9 7.8 7.7 7.7

7 14.6 12.1 10.9 10.1 9.6 9.2 9.0 8.8 8.6 8.5 8.4 8.3 8.2 8.1 8.0 8.0

8 14.9 12.4 11.2 10.4 9.9 9.5 9.3 9.1 8.9 8.8 8.7 8.6 8.5 8.4 8.3 8.3

9 15.2 12.7 11.5 10.7 10.2 9.8 9.6 9.4 9.2 9.1 9.0 8.9 8.8 8.7 8.6 8.6

10 15.5 13.0 11.8 11.0 10.5 10.1 9.9 9.7 9.5 9.4 9.3 9.2 9.1 9.0 8.9 8.9

R.A. = 0.3 (100 + 5) + 5

N

Cynthia Klein, Diagnosing Dyslexia A Guide to The Assessment of Adults with Specific Learning Difficulties (1997)
Fog’s Test of Readability

Introduction

A quick and convenient method of checking levels of reading difficulty of any

material with 100+ words giving reading age equivalents. It tends, however, to
give high results so this should be taken into account when determining the level
of a text.

Procedure

1. Take any sample of 100 words in complete sentences.

2. Count the number of sentences by counting the full stops; if the last full
sentence stops short of the 100th word, count only the full sentences for
this stage.
3. Count the number of words with three or more syllables. Omit capitalised
words such as names.
4. Divide the number of sentences into 100; answer = X.
5. Add the number of words with more than three syllables to your answer ie
x + y; y being the number of words.
6. Multiply x+ y by 0.3 to give an American grade equivalent.
7. Add 5.0 to your answer to give the equivalent to an English reading age.
8. Example = four complete sentences and nine words with three or more
syllables.

a) 4.100 b) 25+9=34 c) 34 d)10.2+5 = 15.2

25 0.3
10.2

The material has a reading age of c. 15 years.

Cynthia Klein, Diagnosing Dyslexia A Guide to The Assessment of Adults with Specific Learning Difficulties (1997)