Word counter: words, characters, reading time and readability

A word is any run of letters or digits, so "it's", "well-known" and "2026" each count as one word, as they do in most word processors. Punctuation and spaces aren't words. Characters are counted two ways because limits differ: UCAS personal statements and many online forms count characters including spaces, while some assignments ask for characters without spaces.

Different programs can give slightly different totals for the same text, usually because of hyphens, numbers or symbols. If your school or university sets a strict limit, check which tool they use and leave yourself a small margin.

Reading time uses 238 words per minute, the average silent reading speed for English non-fiction found in a 2019 review of 190 studies (Brysbaert). The same review puts reading aloud at about 183 words per minute, which is the default for reading-aloud time: useful for timing a presentation or a speech. Everyone reads at a different pace, so you can change both speeds.

A quick way to find your own speaking pace: read a paragraph of your talk aloud, time it, and divide the word count by the minutes it took.

The Flesch reading ease score runs roughly from 0 to 100: the higher it is, the easier the text. The Flesch-Kincaid grade estimates the US school grade (years of education) needed to follow it. Both use the average sentence length and the average number of syllables per word, in formulas published in 1975 for the US Navy (Kincaid and colleagues).

Treat them as a rough guide. Syllables are counted automatically, which is never perfect, and a score can't tell you whether your argument is clear. Long sentences and long words lower the reading ease, so if a paragraph scores very low, try splitting a sentence in two.

• Plan before you write. Give each section a share of the words (for a 1,500-word essay, perhaps 150 for the introduction, 1,200 across three or four main paragraphs and 150 for the conclusion).
• Cut repetition first. The "most used words" list shows where you're repeating yourself.
• Cut filler phrases. "In order to" can be "to"; "due to the fact that" can be "because".
• Check what counts. Many limits exclude the title, references and footnotes. Your assignment brief will say.

Page estimates depend on the font, size and margins, so use the word count your teacher gives rather than pages. For writing help, see our guide on how to write an essay.