The Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level Readability Formula

Step 1: Calculate the average number of words used per sentence.

Step 2: Calculate the average number of syllables per word.

Step 3: Multiply the average number of words by 0.39 and add it to the average number of syllables per word multiplied by 11.8.

Step 4: Subtract 15.59 from the result.

The specific mathematical formula is:

FKRA = (0.39 x ASL) + (11.8 x ASW) - 15.59

Where,

FKRA = Flesch-Kincaid Reading Age

ASL = Average Sentence Length (i.e., the number of words divided by the number of sentences)

ASW = Average number of Syllable per Word (i.e., the number of syllables divided by the number of words)

Analyzing the results is a simple exercise. For instance, a score of 5.0 indicates a grade-school level; i.e., a score of 9.3 means that a ninth grader would be able to read the document. This score makes it easier for teachers, parents, librarians, and others to judge the readability level of various books and texts for the students.

Theoretically, the lowest grade level score could be -3.4, but since there are no real passages that have every sentence consisting of a one-syllable word, it is a highly improbable result in practice.

A second suggestion would be to find an app to analyze your writing level, please see: sarahktyler.com/code/sample.php. There are many more apps available and it certainly depends upon who you are writing for and about. Workplace indicates a 10th year grade level is the best for technical writing.

Another tool for analysis is here: www.makeuseof.com/tag/writing-reader-friendly-check-8-readability-testing-web-tools/ You should know your audience and read a few documents that are in the document libraries, although styles may change over the years due to the natural writing style of authors.

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