What is the Beep Test?
The beep test is a 20-meter multistage shuttle run. You run back and forth between two lines set 20 meters apart, touching each line in time with a recorded beep. The beeps get closer together every minute, so the pace climbs until you can't keep up. The level and shuttle you reach when you drop out is your score.
Sports scientist Luc Léger and his team at the University of Montreal published the test in 1988 in the Journal of Sports Sciences. It spread through schools, sports clubs, and military units worldwide because it needs almost no equipment: just a flat 20-meter space and something to play the beeps.
The test goes by several names depending on where you learned it. In Australia, the UK, and most of the world it's the beep test or bleep test. Sports scientists and UK exam boards call it the multistage fitness test (MSFT). In US schools it's usually the PACER (Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run), run as part of the FitnessGram assessment: the same 20m shuttle format with its own score sheet, counted in laps, opening a little slower and carrying one level more. The PACER vs beep test comparison sets out every difference. You may also see it written out as the 20m shuttle run test.
Whatever it's called, it measures the same thing: how much oxygen your body can use during hard exercise, known as VO₂ max. Coaches use it because it's cheap to run with a whole group at once, and it predicts endurance well enough to be useful for team selection, fitness testing, and tracking progress over a season.
Learn about the PACER test →How the Test Works
If you complete every level, the test runs about 21 minutes. Few people get that far. Most drop out well before the end, and that's the point: the test is built to push you past your limit, not to be finished.
There are 20 levels. Level 1 starts at a jog, 8.5 km/h, giving you 8.47 seconds to cover each 20m shuttle. Every level adds 0.5 km/h and shortens the time you get for each shuttle, up to Level 20 at 18.0 km/h, a pace few recreational runners can hold for more than a shuttle or two. Across all 20 levels there are 231 shuttles in total, adding up to 4,620 meters if you complete the entire test.
The stopping rule is simple: if you fail to reach the line before the beep on two shuttles in a row, the test is over. One missed beep is a warning, not a fail. Catch up on the next shuttle and you keep going. Two in a row and you stop, and your score is the last shuttle you completed before that happened.
You can run the test right here in your browser, or grab the beep test audio to play it from a phone or speaker without a screen. See the full levels chart for the speed and shuttle count at every level.
The setup and rules guide covers marking the course out, what you need to run one, and where sources disagree about the two-miss rule. It's worth a read before you test a group for the first time. If you can't get 20 meters of flat ground, the treadmill version gives you the speed for every level, with the caveat that a belt can't make you turn.
Beep Test Distance
A common question: how far do you actually run? It depends how far you get. Each shuttle is 20 meters, so the distance adds up level by level as the shuttles get shorter and more frequent.
Complete all 20 levels and you've covered 4,620 meters (about 15,157 feet, or 2.87 miles). Most people stop well before that. Here's the cumulative distance at a few common stopping points, worked out directly from the shuttle counts at each level:
| Level reached | Cumulative distance |
|---|---|
| Level 5 | 820 m |
| Level 8 | 1,440 m |
| Level 10 | 1,880 m |
| Level 12 | 2,360 m |
| Level 15 | 3,140 m |
| Level 20 (full test) | 4,620 m |
Understanding Your Score
Your score is the last level and shuttle you completed. This maps to a running speed and an estimated VO₂ max using the Léger et al. (1988) equation at age 18, as Léger and Gadoury (1989) published it: VO₂max = −27.4 + 6.0 × speed (km/h). Complete your profile in the results screen to get a fitness rating benchmarked for your age and sex. Some other calculators print −24.4 instead, which reads about 3 ml/kg/min higher.
Try the VO₂ max calculator →What's a Good Beep Test Score?
There's no single "good" score. It depends on your age, your sex, and what you're training for. A fit 45-year-old and a fit 20-year-old shouldn't be judged on the same scale, and a soccer player's target looks nothing like a police recruit's.
On the norm table this site uses, men aged 18–25 rate "good" from level 10.2 to 13.10, and women aged 18–25 from level 8.7 to 12.7. The bands drop with each older age group. Full breakdowns by age and sex are on our beep test scores by age page, and US school results have their own bands on the PACER scores by age page.
Sport changes the target too, though the figures you see quoted for athletes are usually passed between websites rather than measured. The published ones are modest: in a 2013 study, 39 female college soccer players averaged a top speed of 12.5 km/h, which is Level 9, and a 2010 study of 19 semi-professional men put the average at Level 11.2. The beep test for soccer page has both studies and what they mean for a tryout, and standards by sport covers rugby and basketball. Entry-level police and military standards are usually lower, often Level 5–8 depending on the force. Whatever your target, the levels chart shows the speed and VO₂ max behind each level.
Beep Test World Record
There's no governing body for the beep test, so any "world record" claim is reported rather than certified. The best-documented mark is Level 17, shuttle 1, run by Marek Schirnack of the Royal New Zealand Navy in 2021 and written up in the New Zealand Defence Force's own Navy Today magazine. The highest score run under league supervision and published by the organizers is Billy Hartung's 16.6 at the 2013 AFL Draft Combine. Higher claims exist, but the ones above Level 18 fall apart when you follow them back to the source, and one appears to come from a different test (the yo-yo test) rather than the 20m beep test.
Level 17 works out to 16.5 km/h, held in short, repeated 20-meter bursts. Very few people, even elite endurance athletes, get anywhere close.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the best beep test app?
Depends what you are using it for. Four questions separate the usable ones from the rest. Does it run the real 20-level schedule rather than a rounded-off version? Does it call the levels out loud, so you are not squinting at a screen mid-shuttle? Does it keep working when the signal drops at the far end of a field? And does it want your email before it will start? This one plays the full 20-level schedule with beeps and spoken level calls, counts your shuttles and laps as you go, estimates your VO2 max at the end, and has a 15m mode for the UK police test. It is free, there is no signup and no ads, it runs in any modern browser, and it installs to your home screen and keeps running offline.
Is there a free beep test app?
Yes, this one. The whole 20-level test runs in your browser with no account, no signup and no payment, and the MP3 recordings download the same way. Most of the alternatives are either an app-store download or a page that asks for an email address before it hands over the audio. If you want it on your phone as an app, add this page to your home screen and it installs as one, then works without a connection.
How do I do a beep test at home?
Measure 20 meters of flat, non-slip ground with a tape and mark both ends with cones, tape or anything you will not trip over. A driveway, a quiet park or a garden long enough to take it all work. Play the beeps loudly enough to hear at both ends, which usually means a speaker rather than a phone on the ground. Run when the first beep sounds, get a foot on or over the far line before the next one, turn and go back. Two misses in a row and you stop, and your score is the last level and shuttle you finished. Do not shorten the course to fit the space you have: the timings are built around 20 meters and a 15-meter run at 20-meter speeds is a different test.
What is a good beep test score?
It depends on your age and sex. On the Topend Sports norm table this site uses, a 'good' score for men aged 18–25 runs from level 10.2 to 13.10, and for women aged 18–25 from level 8.7 to 12.7. Above that is rated excellent. The bands step down with each older age group, and the beep test scores by age page has the full table for ages 18 to 65. Entry-level police and military standards vary by country and force, commonly falling in the Level 5 to 8 range, with specialist and elite units requiring more.
How many levels are in the beep test?
The beep test has 20 levels. Speed increases from 8.5 km/h at Level 1 to 18.0 km/h at Level 20. Each level consists of multiple shuttles (ranging from 7 at Level 1 to 16 at Level 20), totaling 231 shuttles across the full test.
What is the beep test used for?
The beep test (the 20m multi-stage fitness test) is used to measure aerobic fitness and estimate VO2 max. It is widely used by schools, sports teams, military, police, fire services, and fitness professionals to assess cardiovascular endurance. It was developed by Luc Léger in 1988. The US school version, the PACER, is closely related but starts slower and has 21 levels.
What is the difference between the beep test and the PACER test?
The PACER (Progressive Aerobic Cardiovascular Endurance Run) is FitnessGram's adaptation of the same 20-meter shuttle run, used in US schools, while 'beep test' is the common term in Australia, the UK and internationally. The running is the same: 20 meters, one lap per beep, and identical lap counts in every level up to level 20, which is why a PACER lap total converts cleanly into a beep test level. Two things differ. The PACER opens slower, at 8.0 km/h with nine seconds for the first lap against 8.5 km/h here, and it carries a 21st level the beep test table does not. It is also scored in laps rather than level.shuttle. So the scores compare, but a stopwatch comparison between the two recordings will never line up exactly.
How do I improve my beep test score?
To improve your beep test score: (1) Do interval training 2–3 times per week, e.g. 400m repeats at your target beep test pace. (2) Add long aerobic runs to build your aerobic base. (3) Practice the beep test itself to improve pacing and turning technique. (4) Get enough sleep (7–9 hours), stay hydrated, and eat enough carbs before testing. Consistent training over 6–12 weeks typically yields noticeable improvement.
How is VO2 max calculated from the beep test?
VO2 max is estimated from the running speed at the highest level you completed. This site uses VO2max (ml/kg/min) = -27.4 + 6.0 × V, the Léger et al. (1988) equation with age held at 18, as Léger and Gadoury published it in 1989. Completing Level 8 (12.0 km/h) gives an estimated 44.6 ml/kg/min. Some other calculators print -24.4 + 6.0 × V instead, which reads about 3 ml/kg/min higher at every speed. Either way it is an estimate, not a lab measurement.
How far do you run in the beep test?
If you complete all 20 levels, you cover 4,620 meters (about 15,157 feet, or 2.87 miles) across 231 shuttles. Most people stop well before that. Finishing Level 10, for example, means you have run 1,880 meters; finishing Level 15 means 3,140 meters.
How long does the beep test take?
The full test takes about 21 minutes if you complete all 20 levels, though most people stop well before the end. Level 1 starts slow at 8.5 km/h, and the pace climbs every level until Level 20 reaches 18.0 km/h.
What is the beep test world record?
No governing body certifies beep test scores, so every 'world record' claim is reported rather than official. The best-documented mark is level 17, shuttle 1, run by Marek Schirnack of the Royal New Zealand Navy in 2021 and written up in the New Zealand Defence Force's own Navy Today magazine. Billy Hartung's 16.6 at the 2013 AFL Draft Combine is the highest score run under league supervision and published by the organizers. Higher figures circulate, but the ones above level 18 are disputed and at least one looks like a yo-yo test result that got relabeled.
Built and written by Tim. Last updated September 25, 2026.