Police Now
Practice Test
37 original scenario questions set over a week as a new Police Now officer, in Neighbourhood and Detective settings. Pick the most and least effective action, read why and see how you did against each of Police Now's competencies and values. Free, untimed, no sign-up, nothing sent.
Independent information, not advice · Sources checked 19 October 2026 · England and Wales unless stated
This is original PolicePay practice, not Police Now's questions. Police Now's real immersive assessment is a multimedia scenario built with Talogy, with cognitive, motivational and personality elements, and its content is not published. Your score here does not predict your result. Use it to practise applying Police Now's competencies and values to realistic situations.
Original practice, not Police Now's questions; your score does not predict your result. Written by PolicePay. Your answers are never sent; only your last score summary stays in this browser.
A week as a new Police Now officer
37 original scenarios from Monday to Sunday, in Neighbourhood and Detective settings. For each one, choose the most effective and the least effective of four actions. One point for each, so two per question. Every option is explained afterwards.
Untimed, like Police Now's immersive assessment. The real assessment is a different, multimedia format with its own questions; this is practice in judging actions against Police Now's published competencies and values.
Reflection, not scored
Which competencies do you lean on?
Fifteen pairs of statements. For each, pick the one that is more like you. There is no right answer and no score: both statements in every pair are good things. Each of Police Now's ten competencies appears three times, so the result shows which ones you reach for when you have to choose. It is not how Police Now assesses anyone and it is not a personality test.
0 of 15 answered
How the practice test works
- The questions: 37 short scenarios, 20 in a Neighbourhood setting and 17 in a Detective setting, running from Monday to Sunday of an imagined week after the academy.
- Your answer: for each scenario, mark one of the four actions as most effective and one as least effective. You cannot mark the same action as both.
- Scoring: one point for matching our most effective action and one for matching our least effective action, so two points a question.
- Length: 12 questions (a random, even mix of settings, shown in day order) or all 37.
- Feedback: after each question (best for learning) or at the end (best for testing yourself). Either way you get a full review with an explanation for every option.
- The breakdown: your points on the questions mapped to each Police Now competency or value, so you can see where your judgement is strongest.
- Reflection: a separate set of 15 pairs of statements, with no right answer and no score, showing which competencies you lean on when you have to choose.
There is no timer. Police Now says its own immersive assessment is untimed, so we see no reason to add pressure that the real thing does not have.
Why the questions look like this
Police Now describes its immersive assessment as an online assessment with cognitive, motivational and personality elements, set in a scenario that shows you what the role is like. Its award entry says the assessment was built with Talogy and combines pre-validated psychometric content with bespoke modules relevant to the role, using video, audio, images and interactions with characters such as community members, colleagues and a sergeant. The questions themselves are not published.
So we have not tried to copy Police Now's format. Instead we chose a well-known way of practising judgement: read a realistic situation, then decide which action would work best and which would work worst. Choosing both ends makes you weigh every option, not just spot the obvious good one. We do not know whether Police Now asks questions in exactly this way, and we do not claim it does.
The reflection pairs reflect the personality element in a deliberately limited way: they show your preferences but do not score them, because personality questions are not about right answers.
It cannot show you the real assessment's scenario, media or question types, how Police Now scores answers, or what a pass looks like. Police Now does not publish those. The real assessment begins with an official, unscored practice session of around 10 minutes: use it to learn the actual format.
What each question practises
Every question is mapped to one or two of Police Now's ten competencies or four values, as Police Now lists them on its "What we look for" page. The explanations reason from ordinary good practice in policing and from the competency, not from guesses about Police Now's marking.
| Competency or value | What it means (our summary of Police Now's description) | Questions |
|---|---|---|
| Take ownership | Make reasoned decisions, accept responsibility and learn from feedback and mistakes. | 8 |
| Collaborate | Build lasting partnerships towards shared goals, beyond your own organisation. | 6 |
| Support and inspire | Understand the vision and model the values for others. | 2 |
| Analyse critically | Weigh information and views to find the root causes of complex problems. | 8 |
| Innovative and open-minded | Stay curious, look for good practice and try creative methods. | 4 |
| Emotionally aware | Understand yourself and others and listen closely to people's needs. | 9 |
| Resilient | Stay calm under pressure and recover quickly from setbacks. | 5 |
| Culturally aware | Recognise that communities differ and adapt your approach. | 4 |
| Motivational alignment | Understand your role in Police Now's mission and show genuine commitment to it. | 3 |
| Written communication | Communicate clearly and concisely, with sound structure and grammar. | 2 |
| Transparency (value) | One of Police Now's four values. | 5 |
| Integrity (value) | One of Police Now's four values. | 6 |
| Impartiality (value) | One of Police Now's four values. | 5 |
| Public service (value) | One of Police Now's four values. | 5 |
Written communication is hard to practise with multiple choice, so its questions are about choosing the clearest way to write for a reader. Practise actual writing with our written exercise examples, since Police Now's assessment centre includes a written report.
How to approach each question
A method that works for most judgement questions (our suggestion, not Police Now's):
- Read the whole scenario first. Note who is affected, who might be vulnerable and what you do and do not know.
- Ask what the risk is. If anyone could come to harm, the best action usually deals with that first.
- Read all four actions before choosing. The first good-looking option is not always the best one.
- Think about what happens next. A good action solves the problem for longer than an hour and keeps trust with the people involved.
- Check it against the competencies and values. Is it fair, honest and open? Does it involve the right partners? Does it take ownership?
- Pick the least effective deliberately. It is usually the option that is dishonest, unfair, ignores risk or shuts people out, even if it looks efficient.
- Use only what you are told. Do not invent extra facts to make an option look better or worse.
You do not need policing knowledge. Police Now says no previous experience is needed, and none of our questions depend on knowing the law. Where an explanation mentions a rule, it is a general principle that applies in England and Wales.
How to read your result
- Look at the explanations, not just the score. The value is in understanding why an action is more or less effective. If you disagreed with our rating, ask what the explanation weighs that you did not.
- Look for patterns. If you often pick the quickest action, or the one that avoids conflict, as most effective, notice that. Many least effective options here are tempting because they feel decisive or kind in the moment.
- Treat small numbers lightly. In a 12-question set, a competency may appear in only one or two questions. One wrong pick can swing its bar a long way.
- Middle options are not wrong. Two options in every question are in between: often reasonable but incomplete. Reasonable people can disagree about them, which is why they carry no points either way.
- Your score says nothing about Police Now's decision. We are not Police Now and we do not know its scoring.
Patterns that came up repeatedly when we wrote the explanations:
- Risk to people comes before tidy workloads or targets.
- Honest limits beat comforting promises.
- Understand a problem, often with partners, before choosing the fix.
- Record and share information properly; do not sit on it or overshare it.
- Own mistakes early, while they can still be put right.
- Evidence that does not fit is still evidence.
How we wrote and checked the questions
- Original: every scenario, action and explanation was written by PolicePay for this page. Nothing is copied or adapted from Police Now, Talogy, the College of Policing or any other publisher.
- Grounded in good practice: explanations reason from widely accepted policing practice (safeguarding, keeping victims informed, open-minded investigation, fair treatment, proper information sharing) and from the competency the question is mapped to.
- Careful with law: we avoid legal claims we cannot support, and keep any rule general and correct for England and Wales.
- Checked automatically: a script checks that every question has four actions, exactly one most and one least effective, an explanation for every action, valid competency names and a spread of correct answers across positions.
- Not reviewed by Police Now: Police Now has not seen or endorsed these questions. If you think an explanation is wrong, tell us through our contact page.
After practising
Read Police Now's immersive assessment explained for what the real online assessment involves, where it sits in the process and how to approach its judgement and personality elements. Police Now's own top tip is to read the job description and research its mission, competencies and values, so our competencies and values guide is the next stop.
If you pass the immersive assessment, the next stage is the virtual assessment centre, with an interview, a written report, role-play interactions and a debrief (and a team meeting for Neighbourhood). See how to prepare for the Police Now assessment centre and practise with our Police Now interview questions. Speaking answers out loud in the free mock interview helps too.
Applying to forces directly as well? Constable applications to forces in England and Wales go through the College of Policing's National Sift instead, which has its own situational judgement test with a different rating scale: try our National Sift SJT practice for that.
Frequently Asked Questions
Are these real Police Now immersive assessment questions?
No. Every scenario, option, explanation and reflection statement on this page was written by PolicePay. They are not Police Now's questions, Police Now has not reviewed or endorsed them, and your score does not predict your result. Police Now's immersive assessment is a multimedia, scenario-based assessment built with the assessment company Talogy, and its content is not published.
Is there an official Police Now practice test?
Police Now says its immersive assessment starts with a practice session of around 10 minutes that does not count towards your score, so you get an official practice round at the start of the real thing. Its award entry also mentions a candidate handbook and a practice assessment. Use those as well as this page.
How is this practice test scored?
Each question gives four actions. You choose the most effective and the least effective. You get one point for matching our most effective answer and one for matching our least effective answer, so two points per question. The breakdown adds up your points on the questions mapped to each Police Now competency or value. It is our scoring for practice, not Police Now's.
Does the Police Now immersive assessment have a time limit?
Police Now says the immersive assessment is not timed and takes about 45 minutes, plus a practice session of around 10 minutes, and that you can take breaks between sections. This practice test is untimed too.
Why is there a reflection section with no score?
Police Now says its immersive assessment has a personality element as well as cognitive and motivational ones. Personality questions do not have right answers in the way judgement questions do, so our reflection set does not score you. It shows which of Police Now's competencies you lean on when forced to choose, as a prompt for finding real examples. Answer the real thing honestly and consistently.
Is anything I enter saved?
Your answers are never saved or sent. The tool runs in your browser; it keeps only your last score and your two weakest competency names in this browser, so our Selection Pack page can show them back to you. We record only anonymous counts of practice sessions started and finished, with the score and the number of questions. We also count clicks on the links at the end.
Should I use the 12-question or the full test?
Start with 12 questions and feedback after each one, so you learn the reasoning. Then try all 37 with feedback at the end to see whether your judgement holds up without hints. Each 12-question set is a fresh random mix of Neighbourhood and Detective scenarios.
Will practising this help me pass Police Now's assessment?
It may help you think through how Police Now's competencies and values apply to everyday policing situations, which Police Now itself suggests researching. It cannot teach you the real assessment's questions or format, and Police Now does not publish a pass mark. Read Police Now's own guidance and use its practice round too.
Sources and how we checked them
Every factual claim on this page was written from the sources below, read on 19 October 2026. Rules and figures change, so check the source for the date you are reading this. Where we could not confirm something from an official or independent source, the page says so rather than guessing. Spotted something out of date? See our corrections policy.
- Police Now: Neighbourhood immersive assessment : untimed, about 45 minutes, a practice session of around 10 minutes that is not scored, cognitive, motivational and personality elements, preparation tips, feedback report (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Police Now: Detective immersive assessment : the same structure for the detective specialism; neuroinclusive design and adjustments (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Police Now: ISE award entry on its assessment and selection process (May 2025) : built with Talogy; pre-validated psychometric content plus bespoke role-relevant modules; no time limits; any device; handbook and practice assessment; instant competency-levelled report (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Police Now: What we look for : the competencies and values our questions are mapped to, and the mission (accessed 19 October 2026)
- Police Now: FAQs : invitation to the immersive assessment within seven days of an eligible application; time adjustments (accessed 19 October 2026)
On this topic elsewhere
More in this guide series
More for graduate applicants
Disclaimer
PolicePay.co.uk is an independent guide. It is not affiliated with Police Now, the College of Policing or any police force. It does not recruit or assess applicants. Police Now sets its own eligibility, selection and programme content and changes them between cohorts: check Police Now's own pages and your invitation before relying on anything here. Practice material on this page is original PolicePay material, not Police Now's. Details are as checked on 19 October 2026.