Voice Level Chart
A free voice level chart for the classroom: a 0 to 4 scale running from silent to presenting, shown large on your board so the whole class can see the volume you are asking for. There is a printable A4 poster of the same scale for the wall.
- No signup
- Nothing to install
- Free forever
Prints the whole 0–4 scale on one page. Choose "Save as PDF" in the print dialogue to keep a copy instead.
The 0 to 4 voice level scale
Nought is silent. One is a whisper only your partner can hear. Two is quiet partner talk. Three is table-group talk. Four is presenting to the whole class. It is the scale most UK primaries teach, and the numbers are the interface: staff say "level one please" across a room and children know exactly what that means.
The number is what children read, so the number is what this shows biggest. The name and the description are underneath supporting it, not competing with it. From the back of a classroom the numeral is legible long after the words stop being.
How teachers use it
Set the level before the task, not during it. A class that has been told "this is a level two activity" and can see the two on the board has been given something to be held to; a class told to "keep it down" halfway through has been told off. The difference in how the room responds is considerable.
It works best when the scale is taught once and then used constantly. Spend a lesson early in the year modelling each level — actually have the class demonstrate a level one and a level three — and the numbers do the work for the rest of the year.
- Independent writing at level 0 or 1
- Talk partners at level 2, which is the level most often needed and most often skipped
- Group work and carousels at level 3
- Presentations, drama and show-and-tell at level 4
- Changing the level partway through a lesson as the task changes, so the expectation moves with it
The printable poster
Plenty of teachers want the chart on the wall rather than on the screen — the board is needed for the lesson, and a permanent poster is something you can point at without changing what is displayed. The print button produces the whole 0 to 4 scale as a single A4 sheet, colour-coded, with the numbers large enough to read across a classroom.
It prints from your browser, so you can send it to the school printer or save it as a PDF to put in a planning folder. Nothing is uploaded and there is nothing to sign up for.
Noise meter, voice level or traffic light?
These three get mistaken for each other because they all sit on the board and they are all about noise. They do different jobs, and most classrooms end up using two of them together.
| Tool | It | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Noise Meter | measures | Listens through the microphone and shows how loud the room actually is, right now. |
| Voice Level (this page) | sets | Displays the volume you are asking for, as a number from 0 to 4, so the class knows the expectation. |
| Traffic Light | signals | Shows how the class should be working — silently, in pairs, or in groups. |
Frequently asked questions
What are the classroom voice levels 0 to 4?
Level 0 is silent — no talking at all. Level 1 is a whisper only your partner can hear. Level 2 is quiet talk with the person next to you. Level 3 is group talk everyone at your table can join in with. Level 4 is presenting to the whole class.
Can I print the voice level chart as a poster?
Yes. The print button produces the full 0 to 4 scale as a single A4 page, colour-coded and sized to be read across a classroom. Your browser can send it to a printer or save it as a PDF.
How is this different from the noise meter?
The voice level chart sets the volume you are asking for. The noise meter measures the volume the room is actually making, using the microphone. Many classrooms use both: the chart states the expectation, the meter shows whether it is being met.
Can I change the wording of the levels?
Not on this page — the scale is fixed so it matches the version taught in most schools and stays consistent between your board and the printed poster. If your school uses different wording, the printed poster is a good starting point to adapt.
What age group is it for?
It is written for primary, and the descriptions are in child-facing language for lower key stage 2 upwards. Younger classes generally need the levels modelled physically a few times before the numbers alone carry meaning.