🇦🇺 📖 Australia · Year 5

Free Year 5 reading test

Find out in 12 minutes. Free.

This free Year 5 reading test takes about 12 minutes. Your child reads four short stories and articles written for children, answering questions after each one. The texts adapt as they go, and you get an estimated reading level and reading age, plus their strengths across four reading skills, matched to the Australian Curriculum (v9.0).

  • Free and no sign-up to start
  • Matched to your curriculum
  • Made by teachers at 70+ Success Tutoring centres in Australia, New Zealand, the US, Canada and India

Start the free check

Where do you live?

Questions follow the Australian Curriculum (v9.0).

No sign-up needed. About 12 minutes. Best done with your child, on any phone, tablet or computer.

What Year 5 children learn in reading

In Year 5, children compare ideas within texts, explain themes and the writer’s purpose, and recognise persuasive language.

What the Year 5 check looks at

Finding information

Finding facts and details the text states.

  • Finding information (story)
  • Finding information (opinion)
  • Finding information (facts)

Try at home: After reading together, ask your child “who, what, where, when?” questions and let them find the answer in the text.

Word meaning

Working out what words mean from the words around them.

  • Word meaning (story)
  • Word meaning (opinion)
  • Word meaning (facts)

Try at home: When your child meets a new word, ask them to guess its meaning from the sentence before you look it up.

Reading between the lines

Working out what the writer suggests but does not say.

  • Reading between the lines (story)
  • Reading between the lines (opinion)
  • Reading between the lines (facts)

Try at home: Ask “how do you think they feel?” and “how do you know?” as you read, so your child links clues in the text.

The big picture

The main idea, the message and why the text was written.

  • The big picture (story)
  • The big picture (opinion)
  • The big picture (facts)

Try at home: At the end of a chapter or article, ask your child to sum it up in one sentence.

Try a Year 5 text

This is one of the texts at this level, with some of its questions. The check picks texts that suit your child as they go.

Story

The Map

The map had been hidden inside the cover of Grandad’s old atlas, folded so many times that the creases had worn into soft white lines. Priya spread it on the kitchen table. In faded ink it showed the farm, the creek and a cross beside the twisted fig tree, labelled with a single word: "Remember."

Her brother insisted it was treasure. Priya wasn’t so sure; Grandad had never cared about money.

Beneath the fig tree’s roots, wrapped in oilcloth, they found a tin box. Inside there was no gold, only a bundle of letters and a black-and-white photograph of a young couple laughing on the creek bank. On the back, in Grandad’s handwriting: "The day I asked your grandmother to marry me."

Her brother was quiet for a long time. "This is better than treasure," he finally said.

Where was the tin box?

Show the answer

Beneath the roots of the fig tree. They found it beneath the fig tree’s roots.

In the story, “insisted” means…

Show the answer

said firmly that something was true. Her brother was sure it was treasure and said so firmly.

Why was Priya unsure the map led to treasure?

Show the answer

She knew Grandad didn’t care about money. The text says Grandad had never cared about money.

How it works

  1. Your child reads 4 short stories and articles, answering 4 questions on each. The next text gets easier or harder depending on how they went.
  2. See how they’re going. On track, a little behind, or needs support, for their year level.
  3. Get the full report. Strengths and gaps in 4 areas, emailed to you, plus a free assessment at your nearest Success Tutoring centre if you’d like one.

Start the free Year 5 check →

Questions parents ask

What is a reading age?

A reading age compares the texts a child can read and understand with what is typical at each age. This check estimates it from the hardest text your child read well. It is a guide, not a formal, standardised score.

What does the Year 5 reading test check?

Four skills: finding information in a text, working out word meanings, reading between the lines, and understanding the main idea and the writer’s purpose.

Is it free?

Yes. The test and the full report are free, and there is no sign-up to start.

Should I help my child read?

Let them read on their own so the result shows what they can do now. Younger children can have the text read aloud, but then the result is a guide to listening comprehension rather than reading.

How can I help my child’s reading at home?

Read every day, talk about what you read, and ask questions that go beyond the words on the page, like “why do you think she did that?”. Our report suggests one thing to try for each skill.

Other year levels

Year 1 · Year 2 · Year 3 · Year 4 · Year 5 · Year 6

🇳🇿 New Zealand: Year 6 · 🇺🇸 United States: 5th Grade · Free Year 5 learning games