Exam Revision Planner
Choose your sitting and the hours you have each week. Get a week-by-week plan, a sensible split across the three subject areas and a calendar file to keep.
This sitting is examined on the 2027 edition of the Blackstone's Police Manuals. Registration closes on 18 Feb: check with your force and the College.
Where your hours go
Split by the share of scored questions in the College's most recent published sergeant breakdown. Past weighting does not predict a future paper, so treat this as a sensible default, then shift time to your weakest area as your practice scores show.
Week by week
| Week | Starts | Phase | Hours | About | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 Oct | Learn and practise | 6 | 90 Qs | Crime: read the matching Manual chapters, then answer practice questions on them. Review every wrong answer. |
| 2 | 18 Oct | Learn and practise | 6 | 90 Qs | General police duties: read the matching Manual chapters, then answer practice questions on them. Review every wrong answer. |
| 3 | 25 Oct | Learn and practise | 6 | 90 Qs | Evidence and procedure: read the matching Manual chapters, then answer practice questions on them. Review every wrong answer. |
| 4 | 31 Oct | Learn and practise | 6 | 90 Qs | Crime: read the matching Manual chapters, then answer practice questions on them. Review every wrong answer. |
| 5 | 7 Nov | Learn and practise | 6 | 90 Qs | General police duties: read the matching Manual chapters, then answer practice questions on them. Review every wrong answer. |
| 6 | 14 Nov | Learn and practise | 6 | 90 Qs | Evidence and procedure: read the matching Manual chapters, then answer practice questions on them. Review every wrong answer. |
| 7 | 21 Nov | Learn and practise | 6 | 90 Qs | Crime: read the matching Manual chapters, then answer practice questions on them. Review every wrong answer. |
| 8 | 28 Nov | Learn and practise | 6 | 90 Qs | General police duties: read the matching Manual chapters, then answer practice questions on them. Review every wrong answer. |
| 9 | 5 Dec | Learn and practise | 6 | 90 Qs | Evidence and procedure: read the matching Manual chapters, then answer practice questions on them. Review every wrong answer. |
| 10 | 12 Dec | Learn and practise | 6 | 90 Qs | Crime: read the matching Manual chapters, then answer practice questions on them. Review every wrong answer. |
| 11 | 19 Dec | Learn and practise | 6 | 90 Qs | General police duties: read the matching Manual chapters, then answer practice questions on them. Review every wrong answer. |
| 12 | 26 Dec | Learn and practise | 6 | 90 Qs | Evidence and procedure: read the matching Manual chapters, then answer practice questions on them. Review every wrong answer. |
| 13 | 2 Jan | Mixed practice and review | 6 | 90 Qs | Mixed questions across all three areas, bring back everything you got wrong, and spend extra time on your weakest area. |
| 14 | 9 Jan | Mixed practice and review | 6 | 90 Qs | Mixed questions across all three areas, bring back everything you got wrong, and spend extra time on your weakest area. |
| 15 | 16 Jan | Mixed practice and review | 6 | 90 Qs | Mixed questions across all three areas, bring back everything you got wrong, and spend extra time on your weakest area. |
| 16 | 23 Jan | Mixed practice and review | 6 | 90 Qs | Mixed questions across all three areas, bring back everything you got wrong, and spend extra time on your weakest area. |
| 17 | 30 Jan | Mixed practice and review | 6 | 90 Qs | Mixed questions across all three areas, bring back everything you got wrong, and spend extra time on your weakest area. |
| 18 | 6 Feb | Mixed practice and review | 6 | 90 Qs | Mixed questions across all three areas, bring back everything you got wrong, and spend extra time on your weakest area. |
| 19 | 13 Feb | Mixed practice and review | 6 | 90 Qs | Mixed questions across all three areas, bring back everything you got wrong, and spend extra time on your weakest area. |
| 20 | 20 Feb | Full sittings and final review | 6 | 90 Qs | One full 150-question sitting in 3 hours, then review it properly. Use the rest of the week on missed questions. |
| 21 | 27 Feb | Full sittings and final review | 6 | 90 Qs | One full 150-question sitting in 3 hours, then review it properly. Use the rest of the week on missed questions. |
| 22 | 6 Mar | Final days | 3 | 45 Qs | Light review of missed questions and notes. One short timed set at most. Check your equipment and the exam rules. Sleep. |
Question targets assume about 15 practice questions an hour including reading the explanations: a planning assumption, not a measured figure. Total across the plan: about 1935 questions. A full sitting is 150 questions in 3 hours (72 seconds each).
See where you stand today, by area, against the sergeant pass mark (55%).
Paid, with a free sample. Timed sittings, weak spots, progress tracking. Not real exam content and no pass promised.
Exam dates and changes, by email
Occasional emails we write and send ourselves: exam and registration dates as the College publishes them, changes to the exam or process, and new free practice questions. Nothing is sent automatically, so this is not a timed reminder service.
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How the plan is built
Pick the sitting you are aiming for and how many hours a week you can honestly give it. The planner counts the whole weeks between today and the first day of the exam and splits them into three stages: learning and practising area by area, mixed practice with everything you got wrong brought back, and finally full 150-question timed sittings with a light final week. Shorter timelines compress the first two stages rather than dropping the full sittings.
Your hours are divided between Crime, Evidence and procedure, and General police duties in proportion to the College's most recent published breakdown of scored questions (sergeants March 2026: 60, 31 and 49 of 140; inspectors May 2026: about 52, 29 and 55). That is a sensible default, not a prediction: past weighting does not predict a future paper, and the right split for you depends on where your practice scores are weakest.
The method behind it
- Test yourself, do not just reread. Answering questions from memory helps you retain material better than rereading it, which is why the plan is built around practice questions rather than reading hours.
- Space it out. Bringing missed questions back a few days later works better than cramming them in one go, so every week after the first stage includes review of what you got wrong.
- Practise at the real pace. The exam is 150 questions in 3 hours, 72 seconds each, so the final weeks include full timed sittings.
- Use the Manuals as the reference. The exam tests the law as it appears in the Blackstone's Police Manuals for your sitting (the 2026 edition for October and November 2026, the 2027 edition for every 2027 sitting).
The question targets in the plan assume about 15 practice questions an hour including reading the explanations. That is a planning assumption, not a measured figure: if you read the Manuals more slowly, you will get through fewer. For a full treatment see our guide to passing the sergeants exam and the inspector exam.
Questions
How long should I revise for the sergeant or inspector exam?
There is no official figure and it depends on your starting point, the time you have and how much of the law you already use daily. The planner shows what your own weekly hours add up to before your sitting so you can judge whether it is enough.
Which exam dates does the planner use?
The College of Policing's published sittings: sergeants 6 to 8 October 2026, 16 to 18 March 2027 and 5 to 7 October 2027; inspectors 3 to 5 November 2026, 11 to 13 May 2027 and 2 to 4 November 2027. Registration closes well before each sitting and forces set earlier deadlines, so check the College exam page and your force.
Is the plan based on research or on what past candidates did?
It is built on well-established study methods (practice questions, spaced review and timed practice) and on the College's published exam structure. It is not built on data about what past candidates did, and we do not claim it will produce any particular result.
Can I add the plan to my calendar?
Yes. Use the calendar button to download a file with one all-day event per study week and the exam dates, and open it in Google Calendar, Outlook or Apple Calendar.
Is anything stored?
Your rank, sitting and weekly hours are saved in your own browser only so the planner remembers them next time. Nothing is sent to us unless you choose to sign up for updates.
What if the exam is this week?
The planner says so and gives a short list of sensible final-days steps instead of a plan: review the questions you got wrong, one short timed set at most, check your equipment and the exam rules, and sleep.
What should I do first?
Take the free 20-question mini mock to see where you stand by subject area, then use that to decide where to put your hours.
Related
Independent guidance and original practice material, not affiliated with, endorsed by, or produced by the College of Policing or Oxford University Press. Exam structure and results figures are the College of Policing's own published data, read on 4 October 2026: check the current candidate handbook before you register or rely on a date.