For students who are well-prepared and can devote 8 to 10 sessions a week to using the software, many will be able to complete the entire program in 6 to 8 months.

Reading Buddy 2.0 assumes that the beginning student has mastered a number of prerequisite skills before starting to learn to read with the software. How well a student has mastered those skills can be determined with the Reading Readiness Assessment component of Reading Buddy 2.0. Remedial exercises (in the Reading Prep Games) are designed to help students who are weak in one or more prerequisite skills to become thoroughly ready.