Schnoell and Burt Reading/Spelling Tests

If you want a quick gauge of your child's reading or spelling abilities, these tests may be useful. Both the Schonell and Burt reading tests are word recognition tests - they test the child's ability to read a list of words. They do not test reading comprehension, however, it's generally accepted that word recognition is an indicator of general reading ability. (However, often students do lack the ability to find answers within text, which is an important reading comprehension skill, even if they can read each word - practicing this is something you'll also want to include in your learning programme). 

Both tests have been around for many years. The Burt one was more recently updated than the Schonell, and sometimes if you mention the Schonell ones in exemption applications, certain staff will complain they are out of date. (Not entirely reasonable - some schools still use them, and they are available through the MoE's own curriculum website). For that reason, if you intend to include this in your application, you may want to refer to the Burt tests instead. 

It used to be easy to find these tests online, but it is becoming harder in some instances. Therefore I've uploaded copies which you can download using the following links. Instructions on how to use and score the tests are included in each document. 

Schonell Reading Test

Burt Reading Test

Schonell Spelling Test

You're welcome :-)