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One Quick Try

Schulte Table

Find the numbers 1 to 25 in order, as fast as you can.

Type
Attention
Takes
about 30-60 sec
Result in
seconds

Schulte Table

~30-60 sec

  1. The numbers 1 to 25 are scattered over a grid.
  2. Tap them in order, 1, 2, 3 and on, as fast as you can.
  3. The clock starts when the grid appears. A wrong tap counts as a mistake.
Grid

Try keeping your eyes near the center and spotting numbers out of the corner of your eye.

Your result: — sec

How it's measured

Try another challenge

  • Visual Search

    Find the one T hidden among the Ls.~1 min

  • Trail Making

    Connect the circles in order: 1-2-3, or 1-A-2-B.~1-2 min

  • Stroop Test

    Name the ink color, not the word.~1 min

  • Visual Memory

    Remember which tiles lit up.~2 min

  • Letter Cancellation

    Mark every copy of one letter, fast.~1 min

  • Digit Span

    Repeat the digits, forward or backward.~2-4 min

What is a Schulte table?

A Schulte table is a grid of numbers in random order, usually 1 to 25 on a 5×5 grid. The task is to find them in order, 1, 2, 3 and on, as quickly as possible. Tables like this are usually credited to the German psychiatrist Walter Schulte, and they are popular today as a quick attention and visual search exercise.

How to play it here

Choose a 3×3, 4×4 or 5×5 grid and press Show the table. The grid stays hidden until then, so you can't study it first. Tap or click the numbers in order; the number you need next is shown above the grid. Numbers you have found stay as they are, as on a printed table, so you have to remember where you are. On a keyboard, the arrow keys move between numbers and Enter or Space taps one.

How is your result calculated?

The clock starts in the animation frame that first draws the grid and stops when you tap the last number. Your result is that time. Wrong taps don't add time on their own, but they are counted as mistakes and shown with your result, along with your average time per number.

How to get faster at Schulte tables

  • Keep your eyes near the center. The classic advice is to fix your gaze on the middle of the grid and find the numbers with your peripheral vision, instead of scanning cell by cell. On a 5×5 grid most of the table is within a short glance of the center.
  • Look ahead. While your finger goes to one number, start looking for the next.
  • Don't rush the tap. A wrong tap costs a moment of re-finding where you were.
  • Start small. The 3×3 grid is a quick warm-up before the full table.

What can change your result

  • Mouse or touch. On a phone your finger can cover the next number; with a mouse the pointer has to travel.
  • Screen size. A bigger grid takes in more of your field of view, so more of it is outside the sharp center of your vision.
  • Luck. Some tables put consecutive numbers close together. Averaging several tables gives a fairer picture than one.

This is a game, not an assessment of attention, and results from different devices aren't directly comparable. For another search task, try the Visual Search Test.

Questions

Why don't found numbers get crossed out?
On a classic printed Schulte table nothing is marked, so you keep track of where you are yourself. The next number to find is shown above the grid to make up for it.
Does a wrong tap add time?
Not directly. It is counted as a mistake, and the only cost is the moment it takes to carry on.
Can I look at the table before the clock starts?
No. The table is hidden until you press Show the table, and the clock starts the moment it appears.
Which grid size should I use?
The 5×5 grid, with the numbers 1 to 25, is the classic. Compare your times only between runs on the same size.
What is a good Schulte table time?
For the classic 5×5 table, 30 to 50 seconds. In the traditional clinical scoring, where a person does several 5×5 tables, an average of 30 to 50 seconds per table counts as a good result and over 90 seconds as a poor one, as set out in a 2024 study registration (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT06613282). That is 1.2 to 2 seconds per number, which you can compare with smaller grids.
Do Schulte tables improve focus?
Practice makes you faster at Schulte tables, and they are a pleasant way to concentrate for a minute. There's no solid evidence that the skill carries over to attention in everyday life, so treat it as a game, not a treatment.