Fitness test

Beep test levels explained

The multi-stage fitness test — the beep test — is the most-run fitness test in Australia. It is used in school PE, in club pre-seasons and in entry standards for police, fire and defence, which is why more people search for its levels than for any other test on this site.

Short answer

For an adult, beep test level 9–11 is a working base for community sport and level 13 and above is well-trained. The score is written as level and shuttle, e.g. 10.7, and the test ends after two consecutive failures to reach the line in time.

If you are testing against a police, fire or defence entry standard, use that service's published requirement — they differ by role and by state, and a general table will mislead you.

Maximal aerobic capacity, estimated from how long you can keep making a progressively faster 20m shuttle. It is a continuous test — there is no recovery period, which is what separates it from the Yo-Yo.

Why it is in the Train Smart battery: It is cheap, it needs 20 metres and an audio track, and it can be run on a whole squad at once — which is exactly why it survives despite better sport-specific alternatives existing.

Protocol

How to run it

Two lines 20m apart. Run between them in time with the beeps, which get progressively faster each level. You must have a foot on or over the line when the beep sounds. Two consecutive failures to reach the line in time ends the test. Your score is the level and shuttle you reached.

What you need: 20m of flat surface · Cones · The standard beep test audio · A recorder for levels

Benchmarks

What is a good score?

The honest answer is that the score that matters is your own previous one. But you want a number to sit against, so here is one — with its limits stated.

Beep test — indicative levels for adult athletes
Level reached	Roughly indicates
Below 7	A base still to be built.
7 – 9	Recreational fitness.
9 – 11	A working base for community sport, and around the range many services entry standards sit in.
11 – 13	A strong community-level engine.
13+	Well-trained. Field-sport professionals commonly report scores above this.

Read this before you use the table. Indicative bands, not norms. Scores vary enormously with age, playing level, sex, surface, footwear, timing method and how recently you have trained the quality. Use them to see roughly where you sit, then compare every future score against your own previous one. If you are testing for a specific entry standard — police, fire or defence — use the published standard for that service and that role, not a general table.

Getting it right

What people get wrong

Most of the variation between two tests is protocol, not fitness. These are the faults that make one score incomparable to the last.

Turning before the beep.: You must reach the line. Turning early is the most common way a score is inflated and the most common reason two people's scores are not comparable.
Sprinting the early levels.: The early levels are a walk-jog for a reason. Running them fast wastes the only energy that matters later.
Rounding the turns.: A wide turn is extra distance at exactly the wrong moment.
Using a different audio track.: There are several versions in circulation with slightly different level timings. Use the same one every time.

The beep test is a maximal aerobic test, so it is improved almost entirely by aerobic training — and specifically by more easy volume than most people think, plus one hard interval session a week.

Volume you recover from. Easy continuous running, several times a week. This raises the base the test measures.
One quality session. 3–5 minute intervals at a pace you could hold for about 10 minutes flat out, with two to three minutes recovery.
Practise the turns. The test involves around a hundred decelerations and re-accelerations. If you have only ever run in a straight line, the turns will cost you a level.

If you play a field sport, be aware you are training for the wrong test: the Yo-Yo IR1 models a game far better. Train for the beep test when the beep test is the thing you are assessed on, and for the Yo-Yo when you are trying to play better.

FAQ

beep test — questions

What is a good beep test score?

For an adult, level 9–11 is a working base for community sport and level 13 and above is well-trained. If you are testing against a police, fire or defence entry standard, use that service's published requirement rather than a general table — they differ by role and by state.

How is the beep test scored?

As a level and a shuttle — for example 10.7 means level 10, shuttle 7. The test ends after two consecutive failures to reach the line before the beep.

Is the beep test the same as the Yo-Yo test?

No. The beep test is continuous; the Yo-Yo IR1 adds a 10-second active recovery after every two shuttles. The Yo-Yo measures repeat-effort ability and models a game better; the beep test measures continuous aerobic capacity. The scores are not interchangeable.

Can I improve my beep test in four weeks?

Meaningfully, yes — most people who have not been running will gain a level or more in four weeks, partly from fitness and partly from pacing and turning better. Beyond that, aerobic improvement is slower and needs months of consistent volume.

Keep reading

Know your number. Now train for it.

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Beep test levels explained

The point of the test

How to run it

What is a good score?

What people get wrong

How to actually move the number

beep test — questions

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2km time trial

repeat-sprint ability test

Know your number. Now train for it.