Collection: Tinted Exercise Books

Tinted exercise books are standard school exercise books printed on pastel-coloured paper instead of bright white. They come in the same sizes and rulings as ordinary books, including A4, 9x7, lined and squared. Schools use them for pupils with visual stress or Meares-Irlen syndrome, and for dyslexic learners who find white paper uncomfortable, so the pupil can keep up with the class using familiar books.

The only real difference is the paper colour. Plain exercise books use white pages, while tinted exercise books use soft colours such as cream, yellow, blue, green or pink. The tint lowers the glare of a bright white page. The size, ruling, page count and cover style can be the same, so a pupil using a tinted book works in the same way as the rest of the class.

There is no single best colour for dyslexia or visual stress. The British Dyslexia Association notes that each person has their own most comfortable colours, as long as the contrast is not too high. The simplest approach is to use the tint a pupil chose during a coloured overlay screening, or the colour recommended after a colorimetry assessment with a specialist optometrist.

Many pupils with visual stress find tinted pages more comfortable to read and write on than white paper. The College of Optometrists notes that coloured overlays and tints may relieve symptoms for some people, but that the evidence remains mixed. Book a standard sight test with an optometrist first, then trial the pupil's chosen tint in lessons and review how comfortable they feel.

Tinted exercise books do not treat dyslexia, which affects how words are processed rather than how a page looks. Some dyslexic pupils also have visual stress, and many of them find writing on a tinted page less tiring. For pupils without visual stress, structured literacy teaching does the main work, so see tinted books as one comfortable adjustment within a wider SEND plan.

Schools can record tinted exercise books as a reasonable adjustment on a pupil's SEN provision map or EHCP. Books with a uniform outer cover help pupils on tinted paper fit in at book scrutiny. Packs of 10 keep costs down, and a one-of-each-colour pack lets a SENCO trial tints before ordering. Contact The Dyslexia Shop for school accounts and bulk pricing.

Yes, and using the same tint at home as at school keeps homework and revision as comfortable as classwork. Ask your child's teacher or SENCO which colour they use in lessons, then choose a book in that tint and a ruling that matches their year group. A smaller 9x7 book suits younger children, while A4 suits older pupils with more written work.