This page explains how practice material on this site is created and checked, how scores are calculated, and where our default requirements come from. We update it when the method changes.
Content standards
- Every passage is original. We do not copy employer assessments or claim to reproduce any specific employer’s test.
- Passages are written to match the documents of the target occupation, using public occupational task descriptions (U.S. Department of Labor O*NET) as the starting point.
- All names, companies, addresses, phone numbers and identifiers are fictional. Phone numbers use the reserved 555-01xx range.
- Automated checks reject impossible dates, wrong weekdays, arithmetic that does not add up, duplicate or near-duplicate passages, and characters that would make exact scoring unfair.
- Healthcare and legal content is administrative only and contains no medical or legal advice.
Scoring method
- Word unit: five characters, including spaces and punctuation.
- Gross WPM: characters in the final typed text divided by 5, divided by elapsed minutes. Deleted keystrokes are not counted.
- Net WPM: gross WPM minus uncorrected errors per minute, never below zero.
- Accuracy: correct characters divided by all evaluated characters after aligning the typed text to the source. Substitutions, omissions and insertions each count once.
- Source text you had not reached when time ran out is not counted. Characters you skipped inside your typed text are counted.
- The practice target is met only when both net WPM and accuracy reach the values you set.
Sources for default requirements
Defaults are deliberately conservative practice values, not hiring standards. Public examples we used for reference include:
- New Jersey Civil Service Commission: five-minute typing test with a minimum of 40 net words per minute (nj.gov/csc).
- California state civil service: typing certificates from a five-minute test with a minimum of 40 WPM (CalCareers).
- County civil service examples requiring 35 WPM at 90% accuracy, with five characters per word.
- Occupational task descriptions from O*NET OnLine.
Requirements change and vary by employer. The job posting or the hiring agency is always the authoritative source.
Corrections
If you find an error in a passage or in this method, please tell us through the contact page. We review reports and correct confirmed errors.