Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. All typing tests, practice sessions, results and certificates are free. The site is supported by advertising on content pages — never on the test itself.

No. You can take any test and print a certificate without signing up. A free account is optional and lets you keep your history, track progress and find your certificates in one place.

When you type the first character, not when the page loads — so you can read the opening of the passage first. The test ends automatically when the timer reaches zero.

Yes, but employment typing tests are normally taken on a physical keyboard, so results on touch screens are usually lower. Turn off predictive text and autocorrect — auto-inserted words are rejected. Your device type is recorded with your result.

Pasting and other large automatic insertions are blocked so that every result reflects real typing. This keeps results and certificates trustworthy.

Choose the one closest to the job: General Employment for most office roles, Data Entry for records and forms, 10-Key for numeric and finance work, Customer Service for chat and email support, and Administrative Assistant for emails, schedules and minutes.

A word is five characters, including spaces. Gross WPM is all typed characters ÷ 5 ÷ minutes. Net WPM uses the text left at the end and subtracts one word per minute for every uncorrected error. Your headline score is net WPM.

Correct keystrokes ÷ total keystrokes × 100. Mistakes you corrected still count against accuracy, because they took time to type and fix.

A 0–100 practice benchmark: 40% speed, 40% accuracy and 20% consistency, measured against the target for that assessment. 90+ is Excellent, 75–89 Strong, 60–74 Developing and below 60 Needs Practice. It is not a guarantee of employment.

Keystrokes per hour — the standard speed measure for data entry and 10-key work. It counts every key you press, including Enter or Tab between values.

No. They are Typing Gauge practice targets that give you something concrete to aim for. Every employer sets its own requirements.

Pass a test — meet both the speed and accuracy targets on a full-length test — and the results page will let you add your name and create a certificate. You can print it straight away or save it as a PDF.

Yes. Each certificate has a unique ID, a verification link and a QR code. The verification page confirms the result and shows your name, scores and completion date — never your email address.

No. It is a Typing Gauge Skills Assessment result. It is not government-accredited and is not a professional or industry certification.

Test results, and — only if you choose — your name and email for an account, your name on a certificate, or details you send us via the contact form. Full details are in our privacy notice.

Signed-in users can download all their data or permanently delete their account from the dashboard. Anyone can also make a request through the Contact Us page (choose 'Data protection request'). We respond within one month.

Ads keep Typing Gauge free. They appear only on content pages such as guides and the FAQ, never on tests, results, certificates or account pages. You choose whether ads can be personalised, and you can change that at any time from Privacy choices.

Use the Privacy choices link in the footer. You can change your advertising consent and turn off usage statistics at any time.

Yes. Create an employer account, configure an assessment and send candidates the unique link. You'll see each candidate's results and whether they met your thresholds on your dashboard.

No. It reports objective typing metrics. The employer is responsible for hiring decisions, for using results fairly and lawfully, and for offering reasonable adjustments under the Equality Act 2010.

The employer is the data controller for candidate data and Typing Gauge acts as its processor under our Employer Terms, which include UK GDPR Article 28 data processing terms.