RAF Bleep Test: Where the MSFT Still Counts
Search for an RAF bleep test level and you get numbers from three different tests. Here is which one you face and when, taken from what the RAF itself publishes.
Practice with the Free Bleep Test App →The Short Answer
You do not run a bleep test to get into the RAF. The Pre-Joining Fitness Test (PJFT) is a 2.4km (1.5 mile) run on a treadmill set to zero incline, taken at a gym near you or at your Armed Forces Careers Office. The RAF says the multi-stage fitness test (MSFT, the bleep test) or the Rockport Walk may be used in exceptional circumstances, and that your recruiter will tell you if that applies.
The bleep test does turn up three times in an RAF career:
- As a stand-in for the PJFT, only in the exceptional circumstances above
- Officer selection: a second fitness test at RAF Cranwell during the familiarisation visit, which includes the MSFT. The RAF does not publish the level; you are told it on the visit
- The RAF Fitness Test, in service, where the MSFT sits alongside the Rockport Walk, press-ups and sit-ups, with levels published by age and sex
The Joining Test: 2.4km Run Standards
These are the PJFT pass times published on the RAF recruitment site, checked on 18 September 2026. The RAF writes them as minutes and seconds with a full stop, so 13.20 means 13 minutes 20 seconds.
| Age | Men, 2.4km | Women, 2.4km |
|---|---|---|
| 15-16 | 13.52 | 16.22 |
| 17-29 | 13.20 | 15.48 |
| 30-34 | 13.49 | 16.14 |
| 35-39 | 14.14 | 16.44 |
| 40-44 | 14.46 | 17.22 |
| 45-49 | 15.17 | 17.57 |
| 50-54 | 15.53 | 18.34 |
Source: RAF recruitment, "Fitness in the RAF" (primary). Standards change. Confirm yours with your AFCO.
Running shuttle-style sessions on a treadmill →RAF Bleep Test Standards by Age and Sex
The RAF publishes an MSFT chart as part of its RAF Fitness Test standards, the annual test serving personnel take, not the one applicants take. The chart splits results into seven coloured bands and states that the RAF's minimum standard is the green one. The levels below are the bottom of that green band, so they are the lowest passing score for each group.
| Age | Men | Shuttles | Women | Shuttles |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17-29 | 9.10 | 82 | 7.2 | 53 |
| 30-34 | 9.4 | 76 | 6.8 | 49 |
| 35-39 | 8.9 | 70 | 6.4 | 45 |
| 40-44 | 8.3 | 64 | 5.8 | 40 |
| 45-49 | 7.7 | 58 | 5.4 | 36 |
| 50-54 | 7.1 | 52 | 4.9 | 32 |
Shuttle counts computed from the standard 20m schedule. Multiply by 20 for metres run. The chart has no MSFT row for the 55+ band, only a VO₂ figure. Source: "RAF Fitness Test Standards", published on recruitment.raf.mod.uk (primary). The file's own properties name it as an annex to RAF fitness policy and date it to 2016, so treat it as the RAF's published position rather than a dated-this-year document, and check with your PEd Flight or AFCO.
What Those Levels Actually Involve
Level 9.10 means level 9, shuttle 10. You complete 82 shuttles, cover 1640m, and run for about 9:22 of test time, finishing at 12.5 km/h. Level 7.2 is 53 shuttles, 1060m and roughly 6:28, with the last stage run at 11.5 km/h.
The decimal is a shuttle number, not a tenth of a level, and that trips people up constantly. Level 9 on the 20m test has 11 shuttles in it, so 9.10 is nearly the whole of level 9 and 9.1 is the first shuttle of it. A widely-shared AI summary currently gives the RAF men's figure as 9.1, citing a newspaper and a YouTube video. The RAF's own chart says 9.10. 9 shuttles separate those two answers.
RAF Regiment and Other Roles
The RAF Regiment adds a second running test rather than a bleep test. Gunner and Regiment Officer applicants pass the standard PJFT, then at the RAF Regiment Selection Course at RAF Honington they do a PTI-led 500m warm-up inside 5 minutes followed by a 2km best effort in 9 minutes 30 or under. Regiment Officers repeat that test later in officer training.
Other trades follow the general pattern. The RAF Firefighter role page, for instance, lists the same PJFT plus the Cranwell MSFT, with no trade-specific shuttle level attached. If you have been quoted a bleep test level for a particular RAF trade, ask where it came from before you train to it. For the fire and rescue services outside the military, where shuttle standards are still common, see the firefighter bleep test page.
What Is Not Published
Two gaps matter here, because other pages fill them with guesses.
The officer MSFT standard at Cranwell is not on the recruitment site. The RAF's wording is that standards will be given during the visit. Any specific level you find for it comes from a forum post or a coaching blog, not from the RAF.
Recruitment forum threads also refer to new RAF fitness standards introduced in November 2024. Nothing on the RAF recruitment site or gov.uk confirms that date, so it stays here as an unverified secondary claim. What can be confirmed is what those pages said when this article was checked, on 18 September 2026, and that is what the tables above show.
Getting Ready
Whichever test you face, the training overlaps almost completely. Both reward a solid aerobic base, so build that with two or three interval sessions a week and easy running in between. Then train the specific event. For the bleep test that means running it on a real 20m course, since the turn is where the time goes and treadmill fitness does not teach it. For the PJFT it means treadmill work at zero incline, holding an even pace rather than starting hard and fading.
The free bleep test app on this site runs the full 20-level protocol with pace calls and a score readout, and the audio downloads are free MP3s with no signup if you would rather train off a phone in your pocket. If you have never run the test before, the setup and rules guide covers marking out the course and what counts as a failed shuttle.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the RAF do a bleep test?
Not to join. The Pre-Joining Fitness Test is a 2.4km run on a treadmill set to zero incline, and the RAF says the multi-stage fitness test or the Rockport Walk are only used in exceptional circumstances, with your recruiter telling you if that applies. The bleep test does come back later: officer candidates sit one at RAF Cranwell during their familiarisation visit, and the in-service RAF Fitness Test uses it as an aerobic option.
What level do you need on the RAF bleep test?
The RAF publishes MSFT levels for its in-service fitness test, not for joining. On that chart the minimum for a 17 to 29 year old man is level 9.10 and for a woman of the same age level 7.2, with the bar dropping through each older age band. There is no published level for the officer bleep test at Cranwell; candidates are told the standard on the visit.
Is the RAF bleep test level really 9.1?
That number comes from misreading the RAF's own chart. It lists 9.10, which is level 9 shuttle 10, one shuttle short of finishing level 9. Level 9 shuttle 1 would be 9 shuttles easier. If a page or an AI summary quotes 9.1 without a link to an RAF document, treat it with suspicion.
What is the RAF bleep test standard for females?
On the RAF's published in-service chart, women aged 17 to 29 need level 7.2, which works out at 53 shuttles and 1060m of running. The bands then fall to 6.8 at 30 to 34, 6.4 at 35 to 39, 5.8 at 40 to 44, 5.4 at 45 to 49 and 4.9 at 50 to 54. The joining test has its own separate table of 2.4km run times.
Does the RAF Regiment do a bleep test?
Nothing the RAF publishes says so. Regiment Gunner and Regiment Officer applicants take the same Pre-Joining Fitness Test as everyone else, then a running test at the RAF Regiment Selection Course at RAF Honington: a PTI-led 500m warm-up inside 5 minutes, followed by a 2km best effort in 9 minutes 30 or under. If you have been told a bleep test level for a Regiment role, it did not come from the recruitment site.
How should I practise for an RAF bleep test?
Run the real thing. Mark out 20 metres, play the audio and practise the turn, because braking and accelerating is what drains you at the top end. Between sessions, build the aerobic base with intervals at around your target level speed. If your date is for the Pre-Joining Fitness Test instead, most of that training still applies, but spend some of it on the treadmill at zero incline holding an even pace.
Sources
- Primary. Royal Air Force, Fitness in the RAF. Source for the PJFT being a 2.4km treadmill run at zero incline, the MSFT and Rockport Walk as alternatives used in exceptional circumstances, the 2.4km pass times by age and sex, and the officer MSFT at RAF Cranwell. Checked 18 September 2026.
- Primary. Royal Air Force, RAF Fitness Test Standards (Word document). Source for the MSFT levels by age and sex and for the green band being the RAF minimum. Crown copyright; the file properties title it as an annex to RAF fitness policy and date it to 2016.
- Primary. Royal Air Force, RAF Regiment Gunner and RAF Firefighter role pages. Source for the RRSC 500m warm-up and 2km run in 9:30, and for the firefighter route using the PJFT plus the Cranwell MSFT.
- Secondary, unconfirmed. Recruitment forum threads referring to new RAF fitness standards from November 2024, and AI search summaries quoting level 9.1 for men from newspaper and video sources. Neither is supported by an RAF publication, and both are flagged as such above rather than used.
- Shuttle counts, distances, times and speeds on this page are computed from the standard 20m multi-stage schedule (Léger et al., 1988), the same schedule the app on this site runs.
By Tim · Last updated September 18, 2026