Schulte Table
Tap 1 to 25 in order on a shuffled grid and read your time in seconds.
Tap 1 to 25 in order on this shuffled table.
The less time it takes, the better.
- Press Start: the whole table appears and the clock starts
- Find 1, then 2, then 3, and tap each one in turn
- Tap the last number and your time appears
A wrong tap does not stop the round, but it is counted. Too many and the round does not count.
Cells
First time here? Try Practise first for a 3×3 run that is not scored.
How to read your score
| Score | What it means |
|---|---|
| Under 0.8 s per number | Under 0.8 seconds per number is the fastest of the four bands this Schulte table test uses. It means a total under 12.8 seconds on a 4x4 grid (16 numbers), under 20 seconds on 5x5 (25 numbers), or under 28.8 seconds on 6x6 (36 numbers). The band is your own time divided by the number of cells, not a ranking against other people. |
| 0.8 to 1.4 s per number | 0.8 to 1.4 seconds per number is the second of the four bands this Schulte table test uses. That is a total of roughly 12.8 to 22.4 seconds on a 4x4 grid, 20 to 35 seconds on 5x5, and 28.8 to 50.4 seconds on 6x6. Compare it with your own recent rounds on the same grid size rather than with a published norm. |
| 1.4 to 2.4 s per number | 1.4 to 2.4 seconds per number is the third of the four bands this Schulte table test uses. That is a total of roughly 22.4 to 38.4 seconds on a 4x4 grid, 35 to 60 seconds on 5x5, and 50.4 to 86.4 seconds on 6x6. It is not a population average and not a definition of a normal Schulte table time. |
| 2.4 s per number and over | 2.4 seconds per number or more is the slowest of the four bands this Schulte table test uses: a total from about 38.4 seconds on a 4x4 grid, 60 seconds on 5x5, or 86.4 seconds on 6x6. Before reading anything into it, check that the numbers are comfortable to read and the cells easy to hit, then run the same grid size again. |
These four bands are your own total divided by the number of cells. They are not norms, not pass marks, and they do not say how many people you outpaced. A single round also swings on its own: a difference between two rounds does not mean you got faster or slower, so read a run of rounds rather than your latest one. And an average per number says nothing about any single step - the same total can come from very different individual searches. Compare rounds on the same grid size, same device and same input method.
How to play
- Pick a grid size: The default is 5x5, the size most Schulte table descriptions use. 4x4 is a shorter run and 6x6 a longer one. Sizes are kept apart: a time on one size is never compared with a time on another.
- Practise first if you want: Press Practise first for a 3x3 run. It works exactly like the real thing and is never saved, so a first attempt cannot land in your records.
- Start and tap in order: Press Start. The whole table appears and the clock starts the instant it does. Find 1, tap it, then 2, then 3, all the way to the last number. The readout at the top always shows the number you owe next.
- Read your time: Tapping the last number ends the round and shows your total in seconds, your wrong taps, and your average time per number. Lower times are faster, and the band table below says what that average per number works out to.
What this measures
The numbers 1 to 25 are scattered over a 5x5 grid. Tap them in ascending order as quickly as you can. On 4x4 the range is 1 to 16 and on 6x6 it is 1 to 36.
Consecutive numbers are never placed in touching cells, not even diagonally. Without that rule a round can turn into spotting 7 and then glancing next door for 8, which is a different task from scanning the whole grid.
Tapping a number you have already cleared changes nothing and is not counted as an error. Tapping a number whose turn has not come yet is a wrong tap: it is counted, the grid does not advance, and the status line says only that it was not the right one - never which direction to look.
More than half the cells mis-tapped ends the round without a score: 8 wrong taps on 4x4, 12 on 5x5, 18 on 6x6. That is what stops tapping every cell in turn from producing a time.
A tap that lands less than 120 milliseconds after the table appears is treated as a blind tap rather than a reaction. The same target comes back; three of them in a row end the round without a score.
Stay on this page until the round ends. Switching away, refreshing, stopping, or going past 3 minutes ends the round without saving anything. An unfinished round never reaches your records.
Your time is measured from the moment the table becomes visible to the tap that clears the last number, and nothing in between pauses it. It is shown truncated to hundredths of a second.
A first round on a new size or a new device is usually the slowest one you will have, and there is nothing to read into that. The clock starts the instant the table appears, so the seconds spent settling in are already in the total - which is what the 3x3 practice run is for: it works exactly like the real thing and is never saved, so the warm-up round does not have to be the one on your record.
FAQ
What is a Schulte table?
A Schulte table is a square grid with the numbers 1 to 25 scattered across its cells, used as a timed visual search task: you find and tap them in ascending order, and the score is how long that takes. The 5x5 version is the common one; 4x4 and 6x6 are shorter and longer settings of the same task. The exercise itself is public domain - this implementation and its band table are the site's own.
What is a good Schulte table time?
Lower is faster: on this test a 5x5 total under 20 seconds falls in its fastest band, which works out to under 0.8 seconds per number. What the test cannot tell you is where you sit among other people, because it has no reference sample. Use the four bands to read your own time in seconds per number, then compare several of your own rounds on the same grid size.
What does a Schulte table test measure?
It measures how long you take to find 25 scattered numbers in ascending order - a visual search task under a clock: locating a target, acting on it, and keeping track of which one comes next. It reports that one task and nothing else. It is not a general ability score and not a diagnostic instrument.
Does practising a Schulte table improve concentration?
Practice makes you faster at this table, and that much shows up in your own times. Whether it carries over to concentration elsewhere is a separate question, and the published evidence for that kind of transfer from a trained task to general ability is weak (Simons et al., 2016). Read a falling time here as a skill at the Schulte table, not as a change in anything broader.
How do you practise with a Schulte table?
Keep the grid size, device and viewing distance the same, and judge a run of rounds rather than one lucky round. Settle into scanning steadily instead of racing, because a wrong-tap spree ends the round without a score. Use the 3x3 practice run after a break or a change of device, so the warm-up round never lands in your records.
Can a 4x4 Schulte table time be compared with a 5x5 or 6x6 one?
No. A 4x4 run has 16 targets, 5x5 has 25 and 6x6 has 36, so the totals measure different amounts of work. Records are kept separately per size and no conversion between them is offered. Seconds per number is the one figure all three sizes share, and even that is a unit conversion rather than a fair swap. Pick one size and stay on it.
Why are consecutive numbers never adjacent in a Schulte table?
Because if 8 sits beside 7, finding 8 costs a glance instead of a search. Every table here places consecutive numbers at least two cells apart, diagonals included, so each number means scanning the grid again and the times stay comparable between rounds. The 3x3 practice grid is the one exception: on nine cells that rule has no solution, which is also why practice runs are never scored.
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Last updated: 2026-09-20 · Scores stay on this device