What is a good 30-15 IFT score?
In team sports, a VIFT of 17.5 to 19.4 km/h is a good score for men and 15 to 16.9 km/h for women. Club players sit lower, at 15.5 to 17.4 km/h for men and 13.5 to 14.9 for women. These are working benchmarks used by coaches, not a published norm: Buchheit's test has no official table by age or sex. Judge a player mostly against their own previous VIFT.
The short version
There is no norm for the 30-15 IFT in the sense that there is one for the PACER, with a table by age and sex from a testing body. What exists is a set of working benchmarks that coaches use, built from team-sport practice. They are useful to place a player, and they should not be quoted as a standard.
The score itself is VIFT, the speed in km/h of the last stage completed. Stage 1 is 8 km/h and each stage adds 0.5 km/h.
Benchmarks by level
| Level | Men (VIFT, km/h) | Women (VIFT, km/h) |
|---|---|---|
| Elite, professional | 19.5 to 21 | 17 to 18.5 |
| Advanced, collegiate | 17.5 to 19.4 | 15 to 16.9 |
| Intermediate, club | 15.5 to 17.4 | 13.5 to 14.9 |
| Youth, developing | 14 to 15.4 | 12 to 13.4 |
These bands come from Topend Sports, which presents them as typical values for team-sport athletes. Other coaching sources use slightly different cutoffs. Treat the edges as soft: a man at 17.4 and a man at 17.5 are the same player.
Stage and VIFT side by side
| VIFT | Stage | Typical reading |
|---|---|---|
| 14 km/h | 13 | Youth or developing |
| 16 km/h | 17 | Club |
| 18 km/h | 21 | Advanced |
| 20 km/h | 25 | Elite |
The stage number follows from the speed: stage = 2 × (VIFT − 8) + 1. The 30-15 IFT calculator does the conversion and gives the training speeds that go with it.
What the published work does say
The test’s author reports one thing precisely: reliability. The typical error of measurement is 0.3 km/h (ICC = 0.96), which the source reads as a potential difference of about one stage between two tests on the same athlete, for no reason other than noise.
That number matters more than any band above. If a midfielder goes from 17.5 to 18 km/h, you cannot say they improved. If they go from 17.5 to 18.5, you probably can.
Why the bands are soft
- VIFT is not a pure aerobic score. It combines aerobic speed, anaerobic speed reserve, recovery between efforts and the cost of changing direction. Two players with the same VIFT can get there with very different profiles.
- Position changes the picture. A winger and a centre-back in the same squad rarely score alike, and the same score does not mean the same match demands.
- The bands carry no age adjustment. A 15-year-old and a 25-year-old at 16 km/h are not at the same level of development.
- Surface and audio track matter. The corrected split times for the 40 m course are part of the protocol. A track without the turn correction shifts the score.
How to use a score
- Place the player with the table, as a rough band.
- Use VIFT to prescribe, not to rank: 15-15 intervals at 95 to 105 % of VIFT load two players equally even if their VIFT differs.
- Retest at the same time of the season, on the same surface, with the same audio track.
- Read changes of a full stage or more as real. Anything smaller is inside the test’s own error.
For the squad as a whole, the useful figure is the spread. A group with VIFTs between 16 and 19 km/h needs its intervals set per player, not one speed for all.
Compare with another test
If you want a score that has published adult norms, the Yo-Yo IR1 has them, by level of play, from Bangsbo and colleagues. See What is a good Yo-Yo IR1 score for soccer players?. The two tests answer different questions: the Yo-Yo ranks a player, the 30-15 IFT sets the speed of their intervals.
Go further
Frequently asked questions
Is there an official 30-15 IFT norm table?
No. The test was published with a protocol, a reliability figure and a VO₂max equation, not with norms by age and sex. The level bands you find online are working benchmarks from team-sport practice, and sources disagree on their cutoffs.
How much does VIFT need to change to count as progress?
More than one stage. The typical error of the test is 0.3 km/h, and the source describes a plausible difference of about one stage, or 0.5 km/h, from measurement alone. A gain of one full stage or more after a training block is a change worth acting on.
Can I compare my VIFT with a MAS or a beep test score?
No. VIFT runs 2 to 4 km/h above MAS for the same athlete, so a 17 km/h VIFT does not mean a 17 km/h MAS. Compare VIFT only with other 30-15 IFT results.
What stage is a VIFT of 18 km/h?
Stage 21. Stage 1 is 8 km/h and each stage adds 0.5 km/h, so the stage number is 2 × (speed − 8) + 1. A VIFT of 18 is stage 21, 19 is stage 23 and 20 is stage 25.
Sources
- Buchheit M., “The 30-15 Intermittent Fitness Test: accuracy for individualizing interval training of young intermittent sport players”, Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research, 2008 — protocol, stage speeds and reliability (typical error 0.3 km/h, ICC 0.96); the page publishes no norm table by age or sex. Checked 2026-10-08
- VIFT benchmarks by level, Topend Sports — the level bands in the table below; working benchmarks, not a published norm. Checked 2026-09-25