The ERF Placement Test
The Extensive Reading Foundation has developed its own placement test whereby students read passages at slowly increasing levels of difficulty and then report on how difficult each passage seems to be for themselves. The result is a number on the ERF 16-point scale which can then be correlated with your preferred book leveling system.
The test is available at: https://erfpt.ealps.shinshu-u.ac.jp
Other Placement Tests
You can use one of the following freely available placement tests to ascertain your students' initial level. Refer to the level chart on this page, or Rob Waring's comprehensive chart to equate their level to that of other publishers.
Accuplacer Reading Comprehension Test
An online sample test with 20 reading passages, one comprehension question per passage.
Cambridge Placement Test
The Cambridge placement test is to be taken online.
Macmillan Level Test
This online test employs vocabulary-picture matching and some drag and drop cloze activities to place students into one of the six Macmillan reader levels.
Oxford Level Tests
Online tests directly accessible by students. There are two tests at each of the seven Bookworms levels.
Penguin Level Test
The Penguin Level Tests are PDF files, specific to each level range. You can administer them in a regular classroom.
TOEFL Reading Practice:
100 Free Questions
This is NOT a placement test, but rather a TOEFL practice test with 100 brief reading passages with one comprehension question each. Students, however, will need to "opt-in" to their email list in order to take it. Of course, they can opt out later!
This table below shows a very rough correspondence between the Kyoto levels and other language level criteria. You can use this to determine initial (tentative) reading levels for your students. Note that it is desirable for their reading level to be somewhat below their actual current ability.
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