How Hard Is The
Sergeant Exam Really?
An honest breakdown of the NPPF step two legal exam, using the College of Policing's own results
Direct Answer
Yes, it is hard. At the seven national sittings from March 2023 to March 2026, between 43.9% and 58.5% of candidates passed. The most recent, March 2026, saw 1,882 of 3,215 pass (58.5%).
It is one three-hour paper of 150 multiple-choice questions on crime, evidence and procedure, and general police duties, drawn only from the Blackstone's Police Manuals. You need 55%: 77 of the 140 scored questions. With structured preparation it is passable; what makes it hard is the breadth of three Manuals and a pace of about 72 seconds a question.
Executive Summary
The Sergeant Exam is not an IQ test; it is a preparation test. It rewards a very specific type of intellectual discipline.
Section 1:
The Difficulty Drivers
Volume of Law
The syllabus is the whole of the Blackstone's Police Manuals: crime, evidence and procedure, and general police duties. The College says questions are drawn solely from those Manuals and any part can be examined. The October 2026 sitting uses the 2026 edition; the 2027 sittings use the 2027 edition. See which Blackstone's edition you need.
The technical shock is the number of offence elements you must hold in active memory. You aren't just tested on 'Theft'; you need to know how Appropriation, Property, and Dishonesty each work, and apply them to the facts in front of you.
Time Pressure
With 3 hours for 150 questions, you have about 72 seconds per question, and the March 2026 paper ran to about 24,606 words. That does not leave much room for working a rule out from scratch. The exam rewards recognition speed. If you have to stop and think about what the Code G necessity criteria are, you are spending time you need elsewhere. The online platform shows a countdown clock and lets you flag questions and come back to them, so a hard question does not have to cost you three minutes. See online exam rules and exam day.
The False Confidence Trap
"I've been in 10 years, I know the law." This is a common trap. Operational familiarity can get in the way of legal precision. Knowing how to do a stop-search on the street is completely different from knowing exactly what counts as a prohibited article under section 1 PACE.
Section 2:
The Pass Rate Reality
The College of Policing publishes a results and analysis overview after every sitting. Across the seven national sittings from March 2023 to March 2026, the pass rate ranged from 43.9% to 58.5%. In other words, between 41.5% and 56.1% of candidates failed each time.
| Sitting | Sat | Passed | Pass rate | Met pass rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| March 2026 | 3,215 | 1,882 | 58.5% | 40.8% (468 of 1,148) |
| October 2025 | 3,040 | 1,566 | 51.5% | 33.1% (321 of 970) |
| March 2025 | 3,507 | 1,967 | 56.1% | 36.0% (488 of 1,357) |
| October 2024 | 3,842 | 1,831 | 47.7% | 28.4% (434 of 1,530) |
| March 2024 | 4,268 | 2,012 | 47.1% | 29.8% (486 of 1,631) |
| October 2023 | 4,208 | 1,849 | 43.9% | 26.8% (471 of 1,755) |
| March 2023 | 5,641 | 3,269 | 58.0% | 41.7% (881 of 2,111) |
Source: College of Policing NPPF sergeants' results and analysis overviews, one per sitting (links below). Each sitting counts the candidates who sat that paper, so someone who sat twice appears in both rows.
Every overview from March 2023 to March 2026 says a 55% cut score was applied to all candidates.
It is an absolute mark, not a curve. The debrief panel can alter it only in exceptional circumstances. More in our pass mark guide.
March 2026: 40.8% in the Met, 68.4% everywhere else.
The Met had 1,148 of the 3,215 candidates and 468 passed. The other 2,067 candidates had 1,414 passes (our calculation from the same PDF). The national figure is pulled down by one large force.
Exceptional grades (75% or more) are not rare on the sergeants' paper: 387 candidates (12.0%) achieved one in March 2026. Low-band fails, below 30%, were 45 candidates (1.4%).
Section 3:
Detail-Heavy Areas
The College does not publish which topics candidates get wrong most often, so this is not a ranked list of failure points. These are examinable syllabus areas where the detail matters. In March 2026 the 140 scored questions covered crime (60), evidence and procedure (31) and general police duties (49), our count of the rows in the College's subject area breakdown.
Sexual Offences
Consent, and the specific intent and age thresholds in the Sexual Offences Act 2003 (Crime Manual chapters 1.12 and 1.13).
PACE NECESSITY
Telling the grounds for arrest apart from the necessity criteria under Code G and section 24 PACE (chapter 3.3).
Complaints and Misconduct
Misconduct procedures and proceedings (chapter 3.17), and unsatisfactory performance and attendance (3.18), sit in general police duties.
BURGLARY NUANCE
The difference between section 9(1)(a) and 9(1)(b) and when the intent has to exist.
ATTEMPT VS PREP
The 'more than merely preparatory' test for attempts (chapter 1.3).
DETENTION AND CODE C
Custody officer duties, detention limits, reviews and extensions, and the Code C annexes make up one of the longest chapters (2.6).
Section 4:
Revision Reality
The College publishes no recommended study time, and there is no published data linking hours to passing. "Cramming" is a poor fit for an exam this broad, because spacing revision over weeks helps you remember it on the day. These are the planning figures from our sergeant revision plan, not official numbers.
Build in at least two full 150-question papers in three hours. You can start with our free sergeant exam mock, plan your weeks with the exam study planner, and compare paid and free options in our revision resources comparison. Our exam prep toolkit adds hundreds of checked practice questions.
Section 5:
Failure Profiles
The College does not publish why candidates fail. These are patterns to check yourself against, not statistics.
If you do fail, you can resit. There are two sergeants' sittings a year, the College sets no national resit limit (your force may), and a pass is valid for five years less one day. The next sitting after October 2026 is 16 to 18 March 2027, with registration through your force from 18 January to 6pm on 18 February 2027. See results, validity and resits and NPPF exam dates 2027.
Section 6:
Difficulty Assessor
Honest self-assessment is the first step to fixing gaps. This is our own self-check: it is not based on College of Policing data and it does not predict your result.
Candidate Assessment
Preparation Gap Check
Complete all sections for diagnostic output
Our own rule of thumb, not an official College assessment or a prediction • Official sergeant pass mark: 55% (77 of 140 scored questions)
Expert Difficulty FAQ
Is the police sergeant exam hard?
Yes. At the seven national sittings from March 2023 to March 2026, between 43.9% and 58.5% of candidates passed, so between 41.5% and 56.1% failed. It is one three-hour paper of 150 multiple-choice questions drawn only from the Blackstone's Police Manuals, and you need 55% (77 of the 140 scored questions). The difficulty is the breadth of three Manuals and the pace, about 72 seconds a question.
What percentage pass the sergeant exam?
In March 2026, 1,882 of 3,215 candidates passed (58.5%). In October 2025 it was 1,566 of 3,040 (51.5%). Across the seven sittings from March 2023 to March 2026 the national pass rate ranged from 43.9% (October 2023) to 58.5% (March 2026). These are College of Policing figures and count the candidates who sat each paper.
What is the pass mark for the sergeant exam?
55%, which is 77 correct answers out of 140. Ten of the 150 questions are removed after the sitting and you are scored on the other 140. A score of 75% or more is an exceptional grade. The NPPF debrief panel can alter the pass mark in exceptional circumstances, but every sergeants' results overview from March 2023 to March 2026 says an absolute cut score of 55% was applied to all candidates.
How long should I revise for the sergeant exam?
The College of Policing does not publish a recommended number of hours, and there is no published data linking study hours to passing. As a planning figure, our sergeant revision plan works out at roughly 70 to 85 hours over 8 to 12 weeks, with practice questions from the first week and at least two full 150-question papers under time.
Can you fail and retake the sergeant exam?
Yes. There are two sergeants' sittings a year, in March and October. The College sets no national limit on resits; any limit is a local force decision. A pass is valid for five years less one day. If you resit while you still hold a valid pass, the rest of that validity is forfeited when you sit, whatever the result.
Is the sergeant exam harder than the inspector exam?
No, on the published numbers the inspectors' exam is harder. Both are the same format: 150 multiple-choice questions in three hours on the same Blackstone's syllabus, except chapter 1.8 (weapons), which is sergeants only. But the inspectors' pass mark is 65% rather than 55%, and inspectors' pass rates ranged from 24.4% to 48.8% between May 2023 and May 2026.
What is the hardest part of the sergeant exam?
The College does not publish which topics candidates get wrong, so nobody can say statistically. What the College does publish is the question mix: in March 2026 the 140 scored questions covered crime (60), evidence and procedure (31) and general police duties (49). The paper also ran to about 24,606 words, so reading pace matters as much as any single topic.
Results day: what to do next
Leave your email and we will email you ourselves around results day with what to do next, whether you passed or not: the resit plan and dates if you need them, the next steps if you passed. Also exam dates and rule changes as they happen. No automatic emails.
Knowledge Continuum
Sources (checked on 4 October 2026)
Exam format, syllabus, pass mark, resits and validity come from the College of Policing's candidate handbooks and exam hub. Pass rates come from the College's results and analysis overview for each sitting. The exam hub links only the latest overview; earlier ones are still published on the College's site at the addresses below.
- College of Policing: NPPF step two legal examinations candidate handbook (2027 version, updated 10 September 2026)
- College of Policing: NPPF candidate handbook 2026 (PDF), which governs the October 2026 sitting
- College of Policing: Sergeants' and inspectors' NPPF step two legal exams (exam hub, dates and latest results)
- College of Policing: Online examinations candidate guide
- Results and analysis overview, March 2026 (PDF)
- Subject area breakdown, March 2026 (PDF)
- Results and analysis overview, October 2025 (PDF)
- Results and analysis overview, March 2025 (PDF)
- Results and analysis overview, October 2024 (PDF)
- Results and analysis overview, March 2024 (PDF)
- Results and analysis overview, October 2023 (PDF)
- Results and analysis overview, March 2023 (PDF)
This analysis uses the College of Policing's published NPPF step two results and candidate handbooks, checked on 4 October 2026. Police Pay (UK) is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by the College of Policing. The self-check result is indicative only.