School PE Standards by Age

What’s expected at each age

In school PE, “expected” usually means one of two things:

• Health-related standard: a target score intended to reflect adequate aerobic fitness for health (common in FitnessGram-style reporting).
• Curriculum/assessment standard: a score band used for grading or for measuring improvement over time.

To provide a concrete, age-by-age reference, the table below shows widely published 20m PACER “Healthy Fitness Zone” minimum lap targets by age. The PACER is effectively a school-format beep test, and it is often used as the school equivalent of a bleep test.

These targets are helpful for answering practical questions like “what is a good score for my age?” without claiming that there is a single “average”. An average score depends on your school, your class, participation levels, and how strictly the test is administered (for example, whether turns are enforced and whether “two misses” is used).

20m PACER minimum laps by age (Healthy Fitness Zone style targets)

Age	Girls (minimum 20m laps)	Boys (minimum 20m laps)
10	17	17
11	20	20
12	23	23
13	25	29
14	27	36
15	30	42
16	32	47
17	35	50
18	38*	54*

*Many published school PACER charts use a “17+” category. The values shown for age 18 reflect the 17+ target values used in those charts.

Example interpretation: if you are asking for an average bleep test score 14 year old, a useful starting point in a PACER-style system is the age-14 HFZ minimum: 27 laps for girls and 36 laps for boys on the 20m PACER table. That does not mean those numbers are the average; it means they are a commonly published minimum target used for health-related reporting.

If your school runs the classic 20m bleep test instead of the PACER, your score will often be recorded as a level (for example, 8.8). PACER scores are usually recorded as laps. They are similar concepts, but they are not always interchangeable because the audio format and stage structure can differ.

If your school uses a 15m shuttle course (often due to space constraints), do not compare your result directly to a 20m chart. Use a chart and audio track designed for 15m shuttles, or compare results only within your school’s own testing format.

Boys vs girls norms

Most large-scale school fitness reporting uses age-and-sex specific reference standards. This is why “bleep test school” charts often show different target values for boys and girls, especially from early teenage years onward.

For individual students, this does not mean that one group “should not train”. It means that aerobic fitness development is tracked in a way that reflects typical growth and maturation patterns, and that standards are usually designed to be interpreted within age bands.

How teachers assess

Schools use shuttle-run tests because they are practical: they need little equipment, they scale to a full class, and they give a clear score that can be tracked over time. How a teacher uses that score varies:

• Goal-setting: students set a target for the next unit (for example, “+5 laps”).
• Health reporting: students are shown whether they are in a health-related band.
• Progress tracking: the teacher measures improvement between the start and end of a block.
• Technique and pacing: teachers may coach turning technique and pacing so the test reflects fitness rather than confusion.

For fairness, good practice is to standardise the conditions: the same course length (20m vs 15m), clear line markings, the same rules on misses, and a consistent warm-up.

Teachers also differ on how they count laps. Some count a single 20m shuttle as one lap, while others count an “out-and-back” as one. If you are comparing your score to a table, make sure you are using the same definition of “lap” that the table uses.

Improving your score

To improve a school shuttle test score, focus on three areas: aerobic base, pacing, and turning.

• Aerobic base: 2–3 easy sessions per week (run, cycle, brisk walk) will improve later-stage tolerance.
• Pacing practice: learn to start relaxed and controlled; most students fail because they sprint early and fade.
• Turning technique: reach the line, plant, and turn cleanly; cutting turns short can lead to early failure if teachers enforce the line rule.
• Short intervals: 10–30 second repeats with short rests build the ability to handle the later stages.

A simple four-week progression for school settings is:

• Week 1: easy aerobic work + turning practice.
• Week 2: add short intervals (10–20 seconds) with full recovery.
• Week 3: longer intervals (20–40 seconds) with short recovery.
• Week 4: one full practice test early in the week, then taper.

This pattern improves both “engine” and “test skill” without relying on repeated maximal tests.

If you want an age-appropriate structure, start with the 4-week training plan, and if your school uses PACER terminology, see PACER test.

Key points

• Schools use different shuttle test formats
• PACER scores are reported as laps
• Classic bleep test scores are reported as levels
• Improvement is often graded, not pass/fail

Back to Standards and Norms