What are the minimum and maximum age equivalent scores for Reading and Maths?

The minimum score for reading is four and the maximum is sixteen years. The minimum score for maths is three years and the maximum is sixteen years.

Children tend to have little or no reading skills before they begin their formal education. It would therefore seem meaningless to talk about reading ages lower than four years. It is possible for a pupil to achieve a reading age way beyond the age of the oldest child assessed. It is probably better to think of a child with a reading age of sixteen, for example, not as reading like a typical sixteen-year-old, but simply as having a very good reading score for their age.

Some pupils’ age equivalent scores fall below the minimum or above the maximum. In these instances, the difference between the chronological age and age equivalent score is denoted by < (less than) if the age equivalent score is below the minimum or > (greater than) if above the maximum.