Typing practice for class 5
A class 5 student (10 to 11 years) typically types 12 to 18 words per minute, and 22 WPM is good. Short words and simple sentences, using the correct finger every time. Aim for 90% accuracy before pushing for speed, and practise for about 10 minutes a day rather than an hour once a week.
Practise now
Three drills, in order. The words warm the fingers up, the sentences add the punctuation class 5 uses, and the paragraph tests whether the pace holds. Nothing is timed and no account is needed.
Aim for 90% accuracy before you worry about speed. There is no timer here.
Click here to start — there is no timer
What class 5 should be working on
Typing without looking down, and using the full stop and comma. That is the skill this year adds; everything below it should already be comfortable, and if it is not, it is worth going back rather than pushing on.
The practice text above is built from words a class 5 student is already reading in Science, Maths, English and Social Science. That is deliberate: when the vocabulary is unfamiliar, the difficulty becomes reading rather than typing, and the student slows down for a reason the practice was not meant to test.
The mistake class 5 students make most
Pressing the space bar with whichever thumb happens to be nearer. It looks harmless and it is the hardest habit on this list to undo later, because the space bar is pressed more often than any other key. The right thumb should do it, every time, while the left hand stays anchored on the home row. The second most common is the little finger wandering off the semicolon key, which quietly drags the whole right hand out of position.
What speed should a class 5 student aim for?
| Measure | Target | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Typical speed | 12–18 WPM | The ordinary range. Below it is not a problem if the fingers are correct. |
| Good speed | 22 WPM | Comfortably above average for this class, not a ceiling. |
| Accuracy | 90% | The number to fix first. Speed follows it; it does not work the other way. |
| Practice | 10 min/day | Concentration falls off after about twenty minutes at this age. |
Observed ranges rather than an official standard. No board prescribes a typing speed for class 5; these are the numbers that match what students at this age actually reach.
For teachers of class 5
Expect a very wide spread in a class 5 room, much wider than in later years, because some children have used a keyboard at home for years and some have never touched one. Pair them rather than streaming them. The children who already type fast are almost all hunting and pecking, so they are not ahead; they simply have a habit to undo, and telling them that early saves an argument in class 7.
No accounts are needed, and there is no advertising on any page where a student is typing. The full course runs from finding the F key through to typing code if you want a structured term of it.
Questions about typing practice for class 5
What is a good typing speed for a class 5 student?
Between 12 and 18 words per minute is ordinary for class 5, and 22 WPM is good. Speed is the wrong thing to push at this stage. A student typing 14 WPM with the correct fingers will overtake one typing 20 WPM by hunting and pecking, usually inside a year, because the second student has to unlearn a habit first.
Is class 5 too early to learn touch typing?
No. Around 10 is when most children can comfortably span a full-size keyboard, which is the real requirement. What matters is that the goal is the correct finger rather than speed, because whatever the hands do now is what they will keep doing. Ten minutes a day is enough at this age.
How do I stop my child looking at the keyboard?
Cover their hands rather than telling them not to look. A thin cloth or a sheet of card over the keyboard removes the argument entirely and makes the rule physical instead of something to be enforced. Expect the first week to feel slower than before; that is the habit forming, not a setback.
Which keys should a class 5 student learn first?
The home row: A, S, D, F for the left hand and J, K, L and semicolon for the right. F and J carry a small raised bump so the fingers can find the position without looking. Every other key on the keyboard is learned as a movement away from that position and back to it.
Related
All free, and no account needed.
- Start at level 1: the home rowFind F and J without looking, one key at a time.
- The full typing course415 levels from the home row to code and professional documents.
- Typing gamesFour games that drill speed, accuracy and weak fingers.
- Keyboard finger placement chartWhich finger types which key, and why the home row matters.