# Schulte Table

> Play a Schulte table online: find 1 to 25 in order while your eyes stay on the centre. Grids from 3×3 to 7×7, numbers or letters, best times saved.

Tool page: https://speedreadingo.fastemy.com/schulte-table/ · Updated: 2026-11-02 · By: Abdullah Yılmaz · Speed Readingo

Find the numbers from 1 upwards as fast as you can while your eyes stay on the green dot in the middle. Pick a 3×3 to 7×7 grid; your best time is saved on this device.

The tool runs in the browser, free, with no sign-up.

## The short answer

A Schulte table is a grid of numbers in random order, usually 1 to 25 on a 5×5 board, that you find in sequence as fast as you can. Research uses it as a timed visual-search task to measure attention. In the Speed Readingo method it is a warm-up for peripheral vision; no controlled study shows it raises reading speed on its own.

## How to play

1. Look at the **green dot** in the centre and keep your eyes there.
2. Find **1**, then **2**, then **3**… and tap each one. The clock starts on your first tap.
3. A wrong tap counts as a miss and shakes the cell. Finish the grid and your time is saved if it beats your best.

Start with 3×3 or 4×4 to learn the rhythm, then move to the classic 5×5. The 6×6 and 7×7 grids push the edges of what you can see without moving your eyes.

## Why the eyes stay in the centre

In the Speed Readingo method, step 2 is reading with your eyes: you rest them on a few points per line and take in the words around each point. The Schulte table is the course's warm-up for that skill. You search the grid without moving your gaze, so you practise noticing what sits off-centre.

There is a real limit, and it is good to know it. While reading, people take in about 3–4 letters to the left of where they look and about 14–15 to the right. Sharp vision covers only about one degree around that point (Rayner et al., 2016). No game makes the eye see whole lines at once. The table is a search-and-attention task, which is why it stays a short warm-up.

## A simple routine

- A few rounds a day, as the course suggests, ideally before a reading session.
- Aim for a 5×5 under 30 seconds, the course's target, then move up a size.
- Switch to letters now and then, so you don't learn the grid by heart.

## What the research says

Studies use the Schulte table to **measure** attention, in clinical and school settings (Lu et al., 2022). We found no controlled study showing that playing it raises reading speed or comprehension, and a randomized trial of a similar "concentration grid" exercise found no improvement (Greenlees et al., 2006). We include it because it is a good focus warm-up and part of the course, not because it is a shortcut to faster reading.

Next, the lesson on [peripheral vision in speed reading](https://speedreadingo.fastemy.com/lessons/peripheral-vision/) shows how to use what you see off-centre on a real page.

## FAQ

### What is a good Schulte table time?

There is no research norm for the online game. The Speed Readingo course sets a personal target: a 5×5 table in under 30 seconds, practised a few times a day until that feels comfortable. Track your own best time; the page saves it.

### Does the Schulte table improve reading speed?

Not on its own, as far as research shows. It is used to measure attention, and a randomized trial of a similar grid exercise found no gain in concentration (Greenlees et al., 2006). Treat it as a warm-up and practise reading itself.

### Who invented the Schulte table?

It is credited to the German psychiatrist Walter Schulte as an attention test. No original publication by him has been located, so the attribution rests on secondary sources.

### Numbers or letters?

Numbers are the classic version. Letters are a good variation once 5×5 feels easy; the order is the alphabet.

## Sources

1. HandWiki (n.d.). Schulte table. handwiki.org. https://handwiki.org/wiki/Schulte_table
2. Lu, A., Wang, D., He, S., Zhongcheng, Q., Zhang, W., & Li, Z. (2022). Attention mechanisms underlying dual-color digital visual search based on Schulte grid: An event-related potential study. Brain and Behavior, 12(2), e2471. https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.2471
3. Greenlees, I., Thelwell, R., & Holder, T. (2006). Examining the efficacy of the concentration grid exercise as a concentration enhancement exercise. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 7(1), 29–39. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2005.02.001
4. Rayner, K., Schotter, E. R., Masson, M. E. J., Potter, M. C., & Treiman, R. (2016). So much to read, so little time: How do we read, and can speed reading help?. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 17(1), 4–34. https://doi.org/10.1177/1529100615623267