🇳🇿 📖 New Zealand · 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 New Zealand Curriculum.

  • 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 New Zealand Curriculum.

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 read a wide range of texts independently, use context to explain unfamiliar words, and identify the main idea and how a text is organised.

What the Year 5 check looks at

Finding information

Finding facts and details the text states.

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

Curriculum: NZ Curriculum: Reading (comprehension)

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 (facts)

Curriculum: NZ Curriculum: Reading (comprehension)

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 (facts)

Curriculum: NZ Curriculum: Reading (comprehension)

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 (facts)

Curriculum: NZ Curriculum: Reading (comprehension)

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 Keeper’s Last Light

For forty years, Mr Hale had climbed the 112 steps of the lighthouse every evening to light the lamp. Now a computer did the job, and the town had planned a farewell party for him.

On the night of the party, a storm cut the power along the whole coast. Out at sea, a fishing boat radioed that it could not see the rocks.

Without a word, Mr Hale took his old oil lantern from the cupboard, climbed the steps one last time and set it in the window. The captain followed the small, steady light all the way into the harbour. The next morning, the newspaper’s headline read: "Old Keeper Saves the Day."

Why couldn’t the computer light the lamp?

Show the answer

A storm cut the power. A storm cut the power along the whole coast.

In the story, “steady” means…

Show the answer

not flickering or changing. The light stayed the same so the captain could follow it.

What does “without a word” suggest about Mr Hale?

Show the answer

He knew exactly what needed to be done. He acted straight away, without needing to discuss it.

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 2 · Year 3 · Year 4 · Year 5 · Year 6 · Year 7

🇦🇺 Australia: Year 4 · 🇺🇸 United States: 4th Grade · Free Year 5 learning games