WPM, Net Speed and KDPH: How Typing Speed Is Calculated

Typing results come with several numbers, and different exams use different ones. This guide explains each formula with examples, so you know exactly what your result means and what an exam asks for.

What is a “word”?

In typing, a word is not a word. It is five characters, including spaces and punctuation. “The cat sat.” is 12 characters, so 2.4 words. This standard makes speeds comparable across passages with short or long words.

Gross WPM

Gross speed counts everything you typed:

Gross WPM = (total characters typed ÷ 5) ÷ minutes

Example: 1,800 characters in 10 minutes = 360 words ÷ 10 = 36 WPM gross.

Net WPM

Net speed subtracts mistakes. A common form, and the one used on EnglishTyping.in:

Net WPM = (words typed − full mistakes − half mistakes ÷ 2) ÷ minutes

Example: 360 words, 12 full and 6 half mistakes, 10 minutes: (360 − 12 − 3) ÷ 10 = 34.5 WPM net. That is below SSC CHSL’s 35 WPM, even though the gross speed was above it.

Full and half mistakes

Exam boards split errors into two kinds:

Full mistakes	Half mistakes
Omitting a word	Wrong capitalisation
Adding a word not in the passage	Wrong or missing punctuation
Typing a wrong word or misspelling	Spacing errors
Repeating a word	Transposed letters, in some exams

The exact list varies by board, so read your instructions.

The railway formula

Railway Recruitment Boards use a stricter calculation for the computer based typing skill test:

Total mistakes = full mistakes + half mistakes ÷ 2.
Mistakes up to 5% of total words typed are ignored.
Speed = (total words typed − final mistakes × 10) ÷ minutes.

Example from the instructions: 400 words, 10 final mistakes, 10 minutes: (400 − 100) ÷ 10 = 30 WPM. Each mistake beyond the allowance costs 10 words. See the RRB NTPC typing test.

Accuracy

Accuracy = correct words ÷ words typed × 100

Error rate is the other side: mistakes as a percentage of the passage covered. Several exams allow a small error rate, often around 5%, and reject anything above it regardless of speed.

Key depressions and KDPH

A key depression is one press of any key. SSC states typing speeds both ways: 35 WPM equals about 10,500 key depressions per hour (KDPH), and 30 WPM about 9,000.

KDPH = WPM × 5 × 60 = WPM × 300

The SSC CGL Data Entry Speed Test asks for 2,000 key depressions in 15 minutes, which is 8,000 KDPH or about 27 WPM. Try it on the DEST simulation.

Quick reference

WPM	Characters per minute	KDPH	Words in 10 min
25	125	7,500	250
30	150	9,000	300
35	175	10,500	350
40	200	12,000	400
50	250	15,000	500