What are the Grade Level and Readability statistics?

The grade level and readability statistics shown at the bottom left of the Outwrite Editor can be used to track the complexity and accessibility of your writing.

Readability: A score indicating the reading ease of the document text; the higher the score, the easier it is to read.
Grade Level: Indicates the number of years of schooling required to understand the document text; the lower the score, the easier the document is to understand.

Note: the scores do not indicate quality or correctness of writing.

The two scores are directly linked to one another; when your readability increases, your grade level will decrease, and vice versa. Generally a lower grade level is a good thing, as it means your writing is easier to read.

Outwrite aims to improve the expression of your writing by simplifying or removing unnecessary phrases. As you accept Outwrite's suggestions, you will generally see your readability and grade level scores change in real-time.

The scores can be understood using the following table from Wikipedia:

Readability	Grade Level	Description
100-90	5th grade	Very easy to read. Easily understood by an average 11-year-old student.
90-80	6th grade	Easy to read. Conversational English for consumers.
80-70	7th grade	Fairly easy to read.
70-60	8th & 9th grade	Plain English. Easily understood by 13- to 15-year-old students.
60-50	10th to 12th grade	Fairly difficult to read.
50-30	College	Difficult to read.
30-0	College graduate	Very difficult to read. Best understood by university graduates.

For a comprehensive guide to understanding the grade level and readability statistics, check out our blog article here.