National Investigators'
Exam (NIE) 2026
The NIE is the 80-question legal knowledge exam every trainee investigator must pass to continue PIP2. This guide brings together the 2026 dates, the 39 of 70 pass mark, every published pass rate, what the four parts of the Investigators' Manual cover and how the College splits the paper between them, how to prepare around shifts, and every detailed guide in the series.
Independent information, not advice · Sources checked 11 October 2026 · England and Wales unless stated
It is 80 multiple-choice questions in 2 hours, online, any time 8am to 8pm on the day, on parts 1 to 4 of the 2026 Blackstone's Police Investigators' Manual. 10 questions are removed at marking and you need 39 of the remaining 70 (55.7%). 63.3% passed in September 2026. The last 2026 sitting is Tuesday, 17 November 2026; registration closes at 6pm on Wednesday, 21 October 2026, earlier in some forces.
The NIE at a glance
Everything below is checked against the College of Policing's NIE candidate handbook 2026 and its published results. Where we could not confirm something, the page says so in the not verified section.
| Topic | Detail |
|---|---|
| What it is | The legal knowledge exam at phase 2 of the professionalising investigations programme (PIP2): the entry exam for trainee investigators and detectives |
| Format | 80 multiple-choice questions in 2 hours, online, unsupervised, any time 8am to 8pm on the day |
| Scoring | 10 questions removed at marking; scored on 70 |
| Pass mark | 39 of 70 (55.7%); exceptional 60 of 70 (85.7%) |
| Syllabus | Blackstone's Police Investigators' Manual 2026 (Oxford University Press), parts 1 to 4 |
| 2026 sittings | Wed, 4 Mar, Tue, 2 Jun, Tue, 8 Sept, Tue, 17 Nov |
| Latest published pass rate | 63.3% (September 2026: 665 of 1,050) |
| Registration | AIMS (through your force or organisation's NIE liaison contact) |
| Results | Within 3 weeks, through AIMS |
| A pass lasts | three years less one day |
The next sitting and the 2026 calendar
Next sitting
Tuesday, 17 November 2026, 8am to 8pm. Registration closes 6pm Wednesday, 21 October 2026.
As at 11 October 2026. Your force may close registration earlier.
| Sitting | Exam day | Registration | Results by |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 2026 | Wed, 4 Mar 2026, 8am to 8pm | Thu, 8 Jan 2026 to Wed, 4 Feb 2026, 6pm | Wed, 25 Mar 2026 |
| June 2026 | Tue, 2 Jun 2026, 8am to 8pm | Wed, 1 Apr 2026 to Wed, 6 May 2026, 6pm | Tue, 23 Jun 2026 |
| September 2026 | Tue, 8 Sept 2026, 8am to 8pm | Wed, 15 Jul 2026 to Wed, 12 Aug 2026, 6pm | Tue, 29 Sept 2026 |
| November 2026 | Tue, 17 Nov 2026, 8am to 8pm | Wed, 16 Sept 2026 to Wed, 21 Oct 2026, 6pm | Tue, 8 Dec 2026 |
The College offers no alternative dates or times. 2027 dates had not been published when we checked on 11 October 2026; recent handbooks have appeared between late October and November. Full detail, lead times and a 2027 dates email are on NIE exam dates 2026.
What the NIE is, and where it fits
The professionalising investigations programme (PIP) sets the levels at which police investigators are trained and accredited. In the College's PIP programme policy, PIP level 1 covers priority and volume crime investigations and PIP level 2 (PIP2) covers serious and complex investigations, the level trainee detective constables and many staff investigators work towards. The NIE handbook describes the exam as phase 2 of PIP and a prerequisite of PIP2.
The handbook states its purpose plainly: to identify candidates who have "sufficient levels of knowledge, understanding and application of relevant law and procedure to perform effectively in the PIP2 and as a trainee investigator". Passing it does not make you a detective. It lets you continue the PIP2 programme, which ends when you are signed off as a PIP2 accredited investigator. The handbook anticipates that most students complete the full PIP2 within six to 12 months of passing the NIE.
"NIE" also means Spain's foreigner identity number and Sri Lanka's National Institute of Education, which is why search results can be confusing. This series is only about the police National Investigators' Exam in England and Wales. For how PIP levels relate, see PIP1 vs PIP2 explained.
Who sits the NIE
The handbook's eligibility rule is broad: admission is open to "warranted officers, police staff investigators and individuals in other agencies or bodies with an investigative capacity who have been selected as a potential student for the PIP2". Every candidate must be able to show current investigative competence against the PIP level 1 assessment criteria, and it is the force or organisation's job to evidence that. The College can reject a candidate if it cannot be shown.
| Group | Who they are | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Trainee detectives and investigators in service | Officers selected by their force for PIP2, usually after time in a uniform role | Most common route; timing set by the force |
| Direct entry detectives (DHEP) | Recruits who join as trainee detective constables through a force's direct entry route | Timing varies by force and programme; see the direct entry guide |
| Police Now detective programme | Trainee detectives recruited through Police Now | Police Now appears as its own line in the College's results tables |
| Police staff investigators | Staff in investigative roles selected for PIP2 | Named in the handbook's eligibility rule |
| Other investigative bodies | For example the IOPC, the National Crime Agency, Guernsey and the Defence Serious Crime Command | All appear in the College's force tables in recent sittings |
Timing on direct entry routes differs between forces and programmes, and failing affects PIP2 accreditation on every route. The NIE on direct entry detective routes guide covers DHEP and Police Now in detail. Special cases (career breaks, suspension, sickness, pregnancy, maternity and paternity leave, deployment overseas) each have their own handbook rule; your NIE liaison contact handles them.
Format and the rules that catch people out
- One paper: 80 multiple-choice questions, 120 minutes, completed in one sitting. The timer cannot be paused; a comfort break comes out of your time unless an agreed reasonable adjustment allows scheduled breaks.
- Online and unsupervised: on the College's national platform, any time 8am to 8pm on the day. There is no national requirement to use a testing centre, but you are responsible for a suitable environment, and problems with it are not grounds for appeal.
- Before the day: a system check, and a familiarisation exercise emailed about a week before that you can open once.
- Application, not recall: the handbook says the exam is not aimed at pure factual recall and you will not be examined on recalling information contained solely in the Manual's tables. But where the Manual refers directly to a paragraph of a PACE Code of Practice, you are expected to know it.
- No AI, no sharing: AI tools are strictly prohibited. Copying, screenshotting or sharing any part of a question, putting it into an AI tool, or discussing questions or topic areas with anyone afterwards (including on social media) are all rule breaches. Penalties include removal of the result, a ban of two years or more, and referral to professional standards and your chief officer.
Full detail in NIE online exam rules and exam day. Because of these rules, nothing on this site is a real or recalled NIE question, and we never publish candidates' accounts of what came up.
The pass mark: 39 of 70
After the sitting the College removes the 10 questions that performed least well, for everyone, so you are scored on 70. You need 39 correct (55.7%) to pass and 60 (85.7%) for the exceptional grade. Because you never learn which questions were removed, 49 correct out of 80 on the day is the score that guarantees a pass whichever 10 go.
The debrief panel can alter the pass mark in exceptional circumstances, but every results overview we read applied the same 55.7%. There is no remarking, no extra marks for being just below the line, and marginal fails are not reassessed. The worked tables are in NIE pass mark explained.
Pass rates: roughly three in five pass
| Sitting | Sat | Passed | Pass rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| September 2026 | 1,050 | 665 | 63.3% |
| March 2026 | 1,633 | 1,040 | 63.7% |
| November 2025 | 1,294 | 672 | 51.9% |
| September 2025 | 1,318 | 792 | 60.1% |
| June 2025 | 1,500 | 822 | 54.8% |
Across the 17 sittings we could read, from September 2021 to September 2026, 14,779 of 25,122 candidates passed: 58.8%. The rate moves between sittings while the pass mark stays the same, because the candidates and the paper differ. The College also publishes a rate for every force, with a warning that comparisons between forces should be made with caution.
The full history, a sortable table by force, and the sex and ethnicity figures as published are on NIE pass rates. For what the rates say about difficulty, see how hard is the NIE.
What is examined: the four parts of the Manual
The syllabus is "cross-referenced to, and only contained within" the 2026 edition of Blackstone's Police Investigators' Manual, the only resource the College endorses. Parts 1 to 4 are examined. The College builds each paper to a blueprint drawn from a national survey of operational investigators, so areas that investigators meet most often are more likely to be tested, although any part of the syllabus can come up.
| Part | Scored questions | Share | Our 80-question mocks | Guide |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part 1: General principles, police powers and procedures | 30 of 70 | 42.9% | 34 of 80 | Part 1 guide |
| Part 2: Serious crime and other offences | 19 of 70 | 27.1% | 22 of 80 | Part 2 guide |
| Part 3: Property offences | 11 of 70 | 15.7% | 13 of 80 | Part 3 guide |
| Part 4: Sexual offences | 10 of 70 | 14.3% | 11 of 80 | Part 4 guide |
The chapter list is the handbook's Appendix A at heading level. The Manual itself sets the depth. Part 1 carries the most weight and includes the PACE Codes, disclosure and RIPA, each with its own guide: PACE Codes for the NIE and disclosure, RIPA and CHIS. The NIE syllabus 2026 guide goes part by part.
The 2026 sittings examine the 2026 Manual, and the handbook advises against relying on older editions. The 2027 Manual and Workbook and the 2027 Q&A are listed by booksellers for November 2026 (pre-publication). Which edition 2027 sittings use will be set by the 2027 handbook. See which Manual edition you need.
How to prepare
- Start early. The handbook recommends a minimum of 14 weeks of independent study using the Manual.
- Manual first. The exam is drawn only from the Manual, so it is the syllabus. Read it part by part, weighted to the blueprint: Part 1 first and most.
- Questions second. Practice questions show whether you can apply what you read. Use the College's own practice questions in the Candidate Online Examination Guidance Knowledge Hub group (login needed), and any others you trust.
- Know the limits of practice material. The College says the Blackstone's Q&A and Mock Examination Paper "cannot be presumed to be representative of the style or difficulty level" of NIE questions. The same is true of ours and everyone else's.
- Space it out. Short regular sessions around shifts beat cramming. Revisit weak areas after a few days, then a week.
- Sit full timed papers. 80 questions in 120 minutes, a few times in the last month, and read the score against 49 of 80, not just 55.7%.
The method in full is in how to pass the NIE, with 4, 8 and 12 week plans in the NIE revision plan, and an honest comparison of books, banks, courses and apps in NIE revision resources compared.
Our free NIE tools, and the paid toolkit
PolicePay builds its own NIE practice tools. They are original, written from statute and case law, and checked; they are not real or recalled exam questions and are not endorsed by the College or by Oxford University Press.
We cannot tell you our users' pass rates because we do not have them. The toolkit is a practice tool, not a substitute for the Manual.
Results, resits and how long a pass lasts
- Results: within 3 weeks through AIMS. You verify your date of birth, national insurance number and email address to open your feedback report, which shows your grade and total percentage. Keep it: it is your proof of the result and cannot be reissued. See NIE results day.
- If you fail: you can usually resit at the next sitting, subject to force or organisation policy, registering again yourself. After a second fail, a development meeting must take place and a written development plan agreed. After two fails, the handbook suggests offering the option to withdraw voluntarily; after three, both sides should strongly consider whether the pathway is right at that time. See what happens if you fail the NIE.
- If you pass: the pass is valid for three years less one day from the exam date. Extensions are considered for certain protected leave and long-term sickness, through your liaison contact, never for lack of opportunities.
- Disruption on the day: report an unscheduled incident within three days. Local internet, device, environment, illness and workload problems are excluded.
Your route through PIP2, step by step
- PIP1 competence. You need to show current investigative competence at PIP level 1, evidenced by your force or organisation.
- Selection for PIP2. Your force or organisation selects you as a potential PIP2 student (for example on moving into CID, joining a direct entry detective route, or taking a staff investigator post).
- Registration. Through AIMS, via your NIE liaison contact, before the force and College deadlines.
- Study. At least 14 weeks of independent study on the Manual, the handbook recommends.
- The exam. 80 questions, 120 minutes, any time 8am to 8pm on the day.
- Results. Within 3 weeks through AIMS.
- The rest of PIP2. With a pass (valid three years less one day), you continue the programme. The handbook expects most students to finish within six to 12 months, ending with sign-off as a PIP2 accredited investigator.
Each force wraps its own training and portfolio around these steps, so your tutor or crime training team will have the local detail.
What it costs you, in money and time
- Exam fee: the handbook sets no fee for candidates. Forces are charged for candidates still registered two weeks before the exam and for absent candidates. Whether any force passes a cost on is local; we have not seen a national rule.
- The Manual: you need the edition the handbook names for your sitting. Ask whether your force supplies or lends one before you buy. Prices change, so we compare them with dates in NIE revision resources compared.
- Free official material: the College's Knowledge Hub group has practice questions, exam tips, study timetables and a revision technique guide.
- Time: 14 weeks is the handbook's minimum. At five hours a week that is 70 hours; at eight hours, 112. Ask your force what study time, if any, it gives.
- Optional extras: question banks, courses and apps, including our own toolkit. None is required, and none replaces the Manual.
Where to start: four common situations
Illustrative examples, not real people.
Every guide in the NIE series
20 guides, grouped by what you need. Each is checked against the College's documents and the law as published.
Exam
Study
- NIE Syllabus 2026: The Four Parts of the Investigators' Manual What each part covers, what is not examined, and how the College's own subject breakdown splits the paper.
- How to Pass the NIE: A Method That Works Around Shifts Manual first, questions second, spaced review and full timed sittings, with the arithmetic of 39 out of 70.
- NIE Revision Resources Compared (2026) Blackstone's books, question banks, courses and apps side by side, with dated prices.
- Which Blackstone's Investigators' Manual Edition Do You Need? The 2026 and 2027 editions, which sitting each covers, and the Workbook and Q&A.
Topic
- PACE Codes for the NIE: B, C, D, E and F Search, detention, identification and recorded interviews: the points investigators are tested on.
- NIE: Disclosure (CPIA), RIPA and CHIS The CPIA regime and Code of Practice, directed surveillance and covert human intelligence sources.
- NIE Part 1: General Principles, Powers and Procedures Mens rea, actus reus, court procedure, bail and powers: the largest part of the paper.
- NIE Part 2: Serious Crime and Other Offences Homicide, drugs, firearms, terrorism, assaults, harassment, domestic abuse and child protection.
- NIE Part 3: Property Offences Theft, robbery, burglary, handling, fraud, criminal damage and proceeds of crime.
- NIE Part 4: Sexual Offences Consent, the Sexual Offences Act 2003 offences and child sex offences, with worked questions.
After the exam
- NIE Results Day: When Results Arrive and How to Read Your Feedback Results dates, the feedback report, what happens next for PIP2 and how long a pass lasts.
- What Happens If You Fail the NIE? Resits and Your Detective Route Resit rules, the development meeting after a second fail, and what it means on DHEP and other routes.
NIE terms in plain English
| Term | What it means |
|---|---|
| AIMS | The College's assessment information management system: where you register and where your result and feedback report appear |
| NIE liaison contact | The person in your force or organisation who handles NIE registration, adjustments, withdrawals and queries. Your first port of call; candidates are asked not to contact the College directly |
| PIP1 / PIP2 | Professionalising investigations programme levels: PIP1 for priority and volume investigations, PIP2 for serious and complex investigations |
| Blueprint | The College's plan for how many questions come from each area, based on a national survey of investigators |
| Scored questions | The 70 questions left after the 10 that performed least well are removed |
| Exceptional grade | 85.7% or more (60 of 70) |
| Debrief panel | The panel that reviews each sitting, considers special considerations, can alter the pass mark in exceptional circumstances, and ratifies results |
| Unscheduled incident | A disruption outside your control with a direct and substantial impact on your result; report it within three days |
| Special consideration | An allowance of one raw mark for candidates affected by an accepted incident, in very exceptional circumstances |
| Knowledge Hub group | The College's Candidate Online Examination Guidance group, with practice questions, tips and study timetables (login needed) |
Common myths about the NIE
NIE checklist
- Confirm with your force that you are selected for PIP2 and your PIP1 competence is evidenced.
- Find your NIE liaison contact and your force's internal registration deadline.
- Register once in AIMS, check your details, screenshot the confirmation.
- Get the 2026 Manual (for 2026 sittings) and plan at least 14 weeks if you can.
- Weight your study to the blueprint: Part 1 first and most.
- Join the College's Knowledge Hub group for its free practice material.
- Sit full timed papers in the last month and read them against 49 of 80.
- Do the system check and familiarisation exercise; plan your exam slot within 8am to 8pm.
- Never share or discuss questions or topic areas afterwards, and never use AI in the exam.
- Diary the results date and keep your feedback report.
What we could not verify
- 2027 dates and the 2027 handbook. Not published when we checked. Whether the format, pass mark or Manual edition change in 2027 is unknown.
- When direct entry trainees sit. DHEP and Police Now set their own timing; we have not confirmed current timetables for each force or programme.
- What a fail means on each route. The handbook sets the national resit rules; force and programme consequences, especially on direct entry, are local.
- Force registration deadlines. Set locally, often earlier than the College's.
- Costs to candidates. The handbook describes charges to forces, not to candidates. We have not seen a national rule on passing costs on.
- How the blueprint varies. We cite the College's split for September 2026 only. Other sittings may differ somewhat.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the National Investigators' Exam?
The NIE is the College of Policing's legal knowledge exam for trainee investigators. It is phase 2 of the professionalising investigations programme and a prerequisite of PIP2, and its purpose, in the handbook's words, is to identify candidates with sufficient knowledge, understanding and application of relevant law and procedure to perform effectively as a trainee investigator. It is 80 multiple-choice questions in 2 hours.
When is the next NIE?
The last 2026 sitting is Tuesday, 17 November 2026, any time 8am to 8pm. Registration closes at 6pm on Wednesday, 21 October 2026, or earlier in your force, and results are due by Tuesday, 8 December 2026. 2027 dates had not been published by 11 October 2026.
What is the NIE pass mark?
39 correct out of 70 scored questions, or 55.7%. You sit 80 questions and 10 are removed at marking. 60 or more (85.7%) earns the exceptional grade.
What is the NIE pass rate?
63.3% in September 2026 (665 of 1,050). Across the 17 sittings we could read since September 2021, the pooled pass rate is 58.8%, with the same pass mark throughout.
Who has to sit the NIE?
Anyone selected as a potential PIP2 student: warranted officers, police staff investigators and people in other investigative bodies. You must be able to show current competence at PIP level 1, and your force or organisation must evidence it. Trainee detectives on direct entry routes and Police Now's detective programme usually sit it during their training, at a point their force or programme sets.
What does the NIE cover?
Parts 1 to 4 of the 2026 Blackstone's Police Investigators' Manual: general principles, powers and procedures; serious crime and other offences; property offences; and sexual offences. In the College's own breakdown for September 2026, Part 1 provided 30 of the 70 scored questions.
How long should I revise for the NIE?
The handbook recommends a minimum of 14 weeks of independent study using the Blackstone's Police Investigators' Manual. Many candidates study around shifts, so plan by hours a week rather than weeks alone, and include full timed practice papers in the last few weeks.
Is the NIE online?
Yes. It is taken online and unsupervised on the College's national exam platform, at home or work, any time 8am to 8pm on the exam day. There is no national requirement to sit at a testing centre, though some forces provide one. You must run a system check and can do a familiarisation exercise beforehand.
Can I use AI or my notes in the NIE?
No AI. The handbook says the use of artificial intelligence tools is strictly prohibited and using or attempting to use them counts as getting help from another person. Copying, screenshotting or sharing questions, or even discussing topic areas afterwards, are rule breaches that can lead to removal of your result, a ban of two years or more and referral to professional standards.
Are there free NIE practice questions?
Yes. The College provides practice questions, exam tips and a revision technique guide in its Candidate Online Examination Guidance Knowledge Hub group (login needed). On this site we publish free original practice questions with explanations and a free scored mini mock. None of them, including ours, are real or recalled exam questions.
What happens if I fail the NIE?
You can usually resit at the next sitting, subject to your force or organisation's policy, and you register again yourself. After a second fail a development meeting must take place, and after two fails the handbook suggests the option to withdraw voluntarily. There is no remarking and marginal fails are not reassessed.
How long does an NIE pass last?
Three years less one day from the date you sat it. The handbook expects most students to complete PIP2 within six to 12 months of passing, and allows extensions only for certain leave and long-term sickness, never for lack of opportunities.
Is PolicePay connected to the College of Policing?
No. PolicePay is an independent site, not affiliated with or endorsed by the College of Policing or Oxford University Press. Every fact on these pages is checked against the College's own documents and linked, and our practice material is original.
Sources and how we checked them
Every factual claim on this page was written from the sources below, read on 11 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.
- College of Policing: NIE candidate handbook 2026 (published November 2025, PDF) — overview and 14-week study recommendation (p 5); dates (p 5); eligibility (p 6); registration (pp 8 to 9); structure, syllabus and the Q&A caveat (p 14); removed questions and blueprint (p 16); Knowledge Hub support (p 17); exam rules, AI and disclosure (pp 19 to 23); pass mark, results, resits (pp 26 to 28); validity (p 30); syllabus appendix (pp 39 onwards) (accessed 11 October 2026)
- College of Policing: National investigators' exam (NIE) page — current handbook, 2026 dates, latest results overview and subject area breakdown. The main site blocked our reader; we read the same page from its production mirror (accessed 11 October 2026)
- College of Policing: NIE results and analysis overview, September 2026 (PDF) — latest national pass rate and force table (filed under a June 2026 address; the document is September 2026) (accessed 11 October 2026)
- College of Policing: NIE subject area breakdown, September 2026 (PDF) — the College's own split of the 70 scored questions; we cite it at part level only (accessed 11 October 2026)
- College of Policing: Professionalising investigations programme (PIP) programme policy 2023 (PDF) — PIP 1 priority and volume investigations; PIP 2 serious and complex investigations (accessed 11 October 2026)
- PolicePay: NIE pass rates, every published sitting — the full results history with a link to each College PDF (accessed 11 October 2026)
On this topic elsewhere
More in this guide series
Practice and tools
Disclaimer
PolicePay.co.uk is an independent guide. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or produced by the College of Policing or Oxford University Press (Blackstone's). Exam rules, dates, the syllabus and prices change, so check the College of Policing's current NIE candidate handbook and exam page before you register or buy. Practice material on this site is original and is not real or recalled exam content. Details apply to England and Wales unless stated. Details are as checked on 11 October 2026.