PSET
Test Day

The Police Scotland Entrance Test (PSET) is the second stage of Police Scotland's selection process for new officers, after the application form and before the fitness assessment and the assessment day. Every new officer applicant sits it because Police Scotland asks for no formal qualifications: the PSET is the assessment of English and numeracy that regulation 6 of the Police Service of Scotland Regulations 2013 requires. Special constable applicants sit the same test.

On the day you complete one paper. Police Scotland's candidate portal describes it as "one examination paper with three core elements: numeracy, literacy and information handling" and says you "will be required to answer 49 questions in 60 minutes". Its adjustments page adds that the paper "is handwritten selection of multiple choice answers or answering in free text boxes" and "is completed in ink under exam conditions". You are given a calculator. To succeed, you must pass all three elements.

Older guides sometimes describe three separately timed papers and call the test the Standard Entrance Test. The old name still appears as a heading on one Police Scotland adjustments page for the same 60-minute paper, but everything else Police Scotland publishes describes the single PSET paper. Prepare for one 60-minute paper.

Police Scotland does not publish where the PSET is held. Some commercial sites say it is sat at an assessment centre in the division you applied to; we could not confirm that from any Police Scotland source, so rely on the address in your invitation.

Timing is partly in your hands. Police Scotland says its "application process is different for each person" and "it's up to you how quickly you complete each step". In practice, respond promptly to each invitation in your candidate account once you are ready. It does not publish how long after the application form the test usually takes place.

For planning the whole process, see how long Police Scotland recruitment takes and the timeline for the vacancy closing 31 March 2027.

Police Scotland says the paper is completed "under exam conditions". It does not define the phrase on its recruitment pages. In most written exams it means working in silence, on your own, without notes, phones or other devices, following the invigilator's instructions on starting and stopping. Expect something along those lines and listen carefully to the instructions in the room.

• Arrive early so you are settled before the instructions start.
• Ask questions before the clock starts. If anything about the paper or the answer format is unclear, ask then.
• Use the toilet beforehand. Sixty minutes is not long, but leaving the room may not be possible.
• Know where the clock is or how time will be announced, so you can follow your pacing plan.

A handwritten paper in ink is different from the screen-based practice many people use. It rewards neatness and punishes ambiguity. Practise on paper at least once before the day.

• Multiple-choice answers: mark your choice exactly as the paper instructs (for example a tick, a circle or a filled box). Do not mark two options.
• Free text boxes: write the figure clearly, with a visible decimal point and the unit if it is not printed (£, %, km, minutes).
• Changing an answer: you cannot rub out ink. Cross the old answer through cleanly and write the new one so there is no doubt which counts. Follow any instruction on the paper about changes.
• Numbers that look alike: 1 and 7, 4 and 9, 0 and 6 are easy to confuse in a hurry. Write them deliberately.
• Money and time: write £20.70 rather than 20.7 and 3 hours 36 minutes rather than 3.6 if the question asks for hours and minutes.

Police Scotland says "You will be provided with a calculator." It does not say which model. Practise with a plain basic calculator so the one you are given feels familiar. Remember three things:

• Basic calculators work one step at a time. Write down each intermediate result rather than chaining long sums.
• Clear the display between questions.
• A calculator shows decimals of an hour, not minutes. Convert by multiplying the decimal part by 60 (0.75 hours is 45 minutes).

Our numeracy guide has a full section on calculator technique with 24 worked examples.

Police Scotland does not publish how the paper is laid out, so you may find the elements grouped or mixed. If the paper lets you move around freely, three approaches work. Try each in practice and keep the one that gives you the most correct answers:

Whatever you choose, remember the pass rule: every element has to be passed. Do not leave your weakest element to the last five minutes.

Literacy (language)

In Police Scotland's mock, language questions are a passage with statements to mark true, false or not possible to say. Read the passage properly once, then go back to the exact sentence for each statement. Use only what the passage says. Full method: PSET literacy guide.

Numeracy

Short written sums in everyday policing settings, answered by writing a figure in Police Scotland's mock. Underline the unit asked for, estimate, convert units, then calculate. Full method: PSET numeracy guide.

Information handling

Questions based on a table in Police Scotland's mock. Read the headings first, build any totals you need, then answer. Watch "more than" and "proportion". Full method: PSET information handling guide.

Police Scotland says it makes reasonable adjustments for candidates whose circumstances would otherwise put them at a disadvantage, including disabilities and neurodivergent conditions such as dyslexia, dyspraxia, autism and ADHD. You request adjustments on the eligibility form at the start of your application, with as much detail as you can give about the support you need at each stage. Your application then goes for a support review before the main form.

• Ask early. Adjustments for the PSET need to be in place before you sit it, so do not wait for the invitation.
• Be specific. Say what helps you in a timed written test (for example, more time, a different format or a separate room), even though Police Scotland does not publish which adjustments it offers.
• Tell them if things change. Police Scotland says you can contact the recruitment team at any time if your circumstances change.

Police Scotland asks for no formal qualifications and gives no upper age limit, so many applicants last sat a written exam a long time ago. If that is you, the content is rarely the problem. The format is. Four things help (general advice, not from Police Scotland):

1. Rebuild handwriting stamina. An hour of writing figures and ticking options is tiring if you only type. Do your practice on paper for the last two weeks.
2. Relearn the arithmetic you have outsourced. Percentage change, converting decimals of an hour into minutes and working across midnight are the skills most adults have not used without a phone for years. The numeracy guide walks through each one.
3. Practise sitting still for an hour. It sounds trivial. It is not, if your working day is broken into short tasks. Full rehearsals build the focus.
4. Treat the first ten minutes as a warm-up. Expect to feel slow at first. The checkpoints in the pacing plan tell you whether you have caught up by 30 minutes.

Police Scotland's special constable recruitment page describes the same Police Scotland Entrance Test and the same 5.4 fitness test as for regular officers. Everything on this page about the paper applies to you. The eligibility differences for specials are elsewhere: you do not need a driving licence, for example. You also commit to a minimum of 96 hours a year. See our Police Scotland special constable guide.

An invented illustration, not a real candidate, to show how the checkpoints and the two-minute rule work in practice.

At the 15-minute check our candidate has answered 11 questions, two behind the plan, because the first passage took longer to read than expected. She does not panic: the statements on that passage went quickly once it was read. The next block of number questions is her strongest. By 30 minutes she has answered 28, one ahead.

Between 30 and 45 minutes a percentage change question stalls her. After two minutes she writes her best answer, notes the question number in the margin and moves on. At 45 minutes she has answered 39, close to the plan. She finishes the last questions at 54 minutes, returns to the stalled question with a clear head, spots that she had divided by the new figure instead of the starting figure and corrects it. In the final minutes she checks units and decimal points and finds a time written as 3.6 that should read 3 hours 36 minutes.

Because Police Scotland does not publish its PSET venues, the only reliable source is your invitation. Once you have it:

• Plan the route the day before, including parking or public transport times. Allow for delays.
• Aim to arrive early so you can find the room and settle before instructions begin.
• Allow for more than an hour at the venue. The paper is 60 minutes, but there will be instructions before it starts. Police Scotland does not publish how long you will be there in total.
• Keep the rest of the day light if you can. You will think more clearly without a deadline straight after.

Within an hour of finishing, while it is fresh, spend five minutes noting how it went. Do not try to recall questions word for word; note the shape of it:

• Which element felt hardest and which question types took longest.
• Whether your pacing held: where you were at 30 minutes and how much time you had left.
• Anything about the arrangements you would do differently (travel, food, what you brought).

If you pass, you have lost nothing. If you do not, these notes are the honest basis for your next attempt and for the 200-word question Police Scotland asks previous applicants about how they have prepared and used feedback.

Several practical points are not on Police Scotland's public pages. If your invitation does not answer them, Police Scotland's recruitment events and recruitment team are the right place to ask:

• What should I bring? Is identification checked?
• Are pens provided? May I bring my own calculator?
• How long should I allow at the venue in total?
• How and when will I hear my result? Will I get feedback by element?
• If I do not pass, when can I sit the PSET again?
• What adjustments can be made for my circumstances?

Police Scotland does not publish how or how quickly PSET results are given. Watch your candidate account and your email. If you pass, the next stages in Police Scotland's order are:

1. The fitness assessment. A 15-metre multi-stage fitness test (bleep test) to level 5.4, briefed by a Physical Training Instructor. Police Scotland says more people fail the fitness test than any other stage, so keep training while you prepare for the PSET. The test must have been completed within 6 months of being given a start date, or you take another before any formal offer. See our Police Scotland fitness test guide.
2. The assessment day. An unassessed ice breaker, a 50-minute group task and a 60-minute spoken situational judgement exercise in the morning, then (if you are successful in the morning) a 20-minute, four-question competency-based interview. See the group task and SJE guide.
3. Final stages: medical, substance misuse test, references and vetting.

The full stage-by-stage journey is on our how to join Police Scotland hub.

The fitness assessment follows the PSET, so your fitness should already be on track on test day rather than starting afterwards. Two Police Scotland rules make the timing matter:

• The fitness test must have been completed within 6 months of being given a start date. If more than 6 months has passed, you take a further test before any formal offer.
• Police Scotland may require an additional fitness test at any point in the process.

Police Scotland also says more people fail the fitness test than any other stage. A sensible approach is to keep two or three fitness sessions a week going through your PSET preparation, easing off only in the last day or two before the paper. You can plan the stages together with our recruitment timeline planner.

You can reapply. Police Scotland says that if you fail pre-screening you can reapply when you meet the criteria. Its application form has a question for previous applicants, with a 200-word limit: "As you have made a previous application to us, please explain what you have done to prepare for this new application. Please include details of how you have used the feedback provided."

Police Scotland does not publish how soon you can resit the PSET or how many attempts are allowed. Ask the recruitment team. Meanwhile, keep a record of what you practise and which element let you down, so your answer to that question is specific and true. Our reapplying guide covers the next attempt in detail.