What is a Sparx Reading Level?

Sparx Reading Levels are a measure of student reading ability, on a 1 to 9 scale.

These Sparx levels can be mapped to reading ages. Within Sparx Reader, we have eBooks from a Sparx Level 1 (approximately equivalent to a reading age of 5), up to Level 9 (approximately equivalent to a reading age of 15+).

Below is a rough mapping of how Sparx Reading Levels correlate to reading ages:
Sparx Level 1-2: Reading Age 5-7 (Easier books to support struggling readers, and simpler tasks in place of questions)
Sparx Level 3-4: Reading Age 9 -10 (Easier books to support struggling readers)
Sparx Level 5-6: Reading Age 11-12 (Middle-grade books)
Sparx Level 7-8: Reading Age 12-14 (Higher middle-grade books)
Sparx Level 9+: Reading Age 15+ (Challenging books for stronger readers)

Students will be shown a selection of books that are appropriate for their Reading Level. Every time students do some reading or answer a question, we learn a bit more about how they read, and that all feeds into our estimate of their current reading level. The more students read using Sparx Reader, the more information we will have to ensure their level is accurate.

If you would like to change a student's Sparx level, you can find out how to in this article: Changing a student's Sparx Reading Level?

Have a look at the Insights page to see the book a student is currently reading and the associated book reading age, as well as Sparx Levels for each student in the class.