What your WPM and accuracy scores really mean
Understand the five-character word, active time, corrections and the difference between raw speed and correct typing.
A word is five characters
Typing tests commonly use five characters as a standard word rather than counting dictionary words. This makes results less dependent on whether a passage contains short words or long ones. Spaces and punctuation count as characters too.
Typing Ground calculates WPM as: correctly typed characters still in your answer, divided by five, divided by active minutes. If your answer contains 300 correct characters after 60 active seconds, your score is 60 WPM. The displayed result is rounded to the nearest whole number.
Accuracy counts your attempts
Accuracy is the percentage of typed character attempts that matched the expected character at that position. If you make 330 attempts and 30 are wrong, your accuracy is about 91%. Backspace itself is not a typed character attempt.
Correcting a mistake removes it from your answer, but the original attempt remains in the accuracy calculation. Repeatedly deleting and retyping correct text does not keep adding to the final WPM: the speed calculation counts the correct characters that remain in your answer.
Raw WPM tells a different story
Raw WPM uses the number of characters left in your answer, including wrong ones, divided by five and then by active minutes. It can be higher than your correct WPM. It is useful context, but it does not replace accuracy.
A wrong character and a missed space both matter because the prompt is compared in order. Use Backspace to fix the latest character when necessary. Cursor navigation is restricted so a run follows the displayed passage from beginning to end.
Active time is practice time
The timer starts with your first typed character. It pauses when you leave the typing area or hide the browser tab. A timed test finishes at the selected amount of active time; a word test finishes when the full passage has been entered. Custom passages finish at their last character.
These results are self-administered practice measurements. They are not proctored assessments, identity checks or independently verified qualifications. Very short runs can produce volatile WPM values, so repeat a consistent setup when comparing progress.
Put a little of that into practice.
Start a free test and find your own rhythm.