What Is a Good Sequence Memory Score?
On the sequence memory test here, level 8 is average, 12 excellent and 15+ exceptional. A pattern of lights plays back, you repeat it, and each level adds one more step to the same sequence until you make a mistake. Because the sequence grows rather than changing, the test measures how well you extend and rehearse a serial memory — the same ability the Simon game and the clinical Corsi block task tap. Untrained adults typically manage five to nine steps; higher levels come from turning the path into chunks and rhythms rather than remembering steps one at a time.
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What the sequence memory test measures
Remembering a sequence is harder than remembering a set: you must keep the items and their order, and order is what breaks down first. The Corsi block-tapping test, used since the 1970s, asks people to tap blocks in the order the examiner did and finds a mean span of about six in healthy adults, a little lower than the seven of digit span because spatial positions are harder to rehearse than spoken digits. Here the sequence is shown visually and grows by one light per level, so a level-N score means you correctly repeated N steps. Working memory researchers call this a serial recall task; it draws on the visuospatial sketchpad and, when players count or name positions, the phonological loop too.
What counts as a good sequence memory score?
Corsi norms put 5–7 in the normal adult range, 8–9 above average and 10+ uncommon for a sequence seen once. On a growing-sequence game, however, you see the first steps many times over, which is why bands here are higher: 8 average, 12 excellent, 15+ exceptional. Span shortens gently with age after the twenties and is sensitive to distraction — a notification arriving mid-sequence is the commonest reason a good run ends early. Musicians and dancers tend to do well, as do people who habitually rehearse routes and directions.
Why chunking is everything
The sequence becomes memorable when it stops being a list of positions and becomes a path: "top-left, across, down, back". Players who reach level 15 and beyond describe the first eight or so steps as one fixed unit they no longer think about, and attention going only to the newest additions. That is the same trick that lets a pianist add bars to a piece. Rhythm helps too: replaying the sequence to yourself with the same timing the game used makes the order stick.
How to improve your sequence memory score
- Turn the path into a shape or a word. Directions ("up, right, right, down") or letters traced on the grid are easier to hold than positions.
- Chunk in threes or fours and rehearse the chunks, not the steps.
- Repeat with rhythm during the playback so the order is encoded in timing as well as space.
- Watch the whole grid rather than following the light with your eyes; it keeps positions relative to fixed landmarks.
- Silence notifications. A single interruption at level 10 costs the run; the sequence is fragile until you have rehearsed it.
Score bands on the sequence memory test
These are the bands the sequence memory test on this site uses for its result screen.
| Score | Band |
|---|---|
| 15+ level | Exceptional |
| 12–14 level | Excellent |
| 8–11 level | Average |
| 5–7 level | Developing |
| 0–4 level | Warming Up |
How players on this site compare
Every completed sequence memory test adds an anonymous result to this site's histogram. This page shows the median and distribution once 20 results have been recorded; until then the bands above are the guide. The live figures are always on the benchmarks page and at /api/data/norms.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good sequence memory score?
On this site level 8 is average, 12 excellent and 15 or more exceptional. The clinical Corsi block test finds a mean span of about six positions in healthy adults for a sequence seen once.
How is sequence memory different from number memory?
Number memory (digit span) holds a spoken-style list; sequence memory holds spatial positions in order, which is harder to rehearse. Both improve dramatically with chunking.
How do people reach very high levels?
By chunking the sequence into a path or shape, rehearsing it rhythmically and treating the early steps as one memorised unit so attention goes only to the newest additions.
Related guides
- What Is a Good Visual Memory Score?
- What Is a Good Number Memory Score? Digit Span Explained
- Average Reaction Time: What Is a Good Score?
- Benchmarks: how scores on this site are distributed
- All free tests
Site figures are anonymous results recorded on getmytestscore.co.uk and describe this site's players only; they are not clinical norms and should not be used for diagnosis. Research figures are cited from peer-reviewed sources and summarised in plain English.