Inspector Exam
In 4 Weeks
If you are registered for the inspectors' exam on 3 to 5 November 2026 and starting serious revision now, this is a day-by-day plan from Tuesday 6 October with real dates, three full timed papers at the right points, weekly score targets, a version for shift workers and the final 72 hours. It also tells you honestly what four weeks can and cannot do against a 65% pass mark.
Independent information, not advice · Sources checked 6 October 2026 · England and Wales unless stated
Test, do not reread. Sit a full timed baseline paper on Saturday 10 October, cover evidence and procedure in week 1, general police duties in week 2 and crime in week 3, and sit full papers again on 24 and 29 October. Log the cause of every wrong answer and retest it. Aim for 70% (105 of 150) on unseen timed papers by the last week: the real bar is 91 of 140 scored questions, at 72 seconds a question. Stop learning new chapters on 30 October and do the familiarisation exercise as soon as it arrives.
Your 28 days in dates
Day 1 is Tuesday 6 October 2026. Day 28 is Monday 2 November, the day before the exam window opens. The College's exam page (checked 6 October 2026) gives the November inspectors' sitting as Tuesday 3 to Thursday 5 November 2026, with registration having closed at 6pm on Monday 5 October. You sit on one day of your choice in that window. This page is for candidates who are already registered. If you are not, the next inspectors' sittings are 11 to 13 May and 2 to 4 November 2027, and the 8 and 12 week inspector revision plans are the better starting point.
| Date | Plan | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Tue 6 October 2026 | Day 1 of this plan | Inspectors' registration closed at 6pm the evening before |
| Sat 10 October | Day 5: full paper 1 (baseline) | Your real starting score against 91 of 140 |
| Mon 19 October | Day 14: go or no-go decision | Forces are charged for everyone still registered two weeks before the exam (Tue 20 October) |
| Sat 24 October | Day 19: full paper 2 | Mid-point check |
| Sun 25 October | Day 20 | Clocks go back one hour (GOV.UK). Matters if you are on nights that weekend |
| About Tue 27 October | Day 22 | Familiarisation exercise link due by email, about a week before your exam. One access only |
| Thu 29 October | Day 24: full paper 3 | Final rehearsal; your last full paper |
| Mon 2 November | Day 28 | Last plan day. Light review only |
| Tue 3 to Thu 5 November | Exam window | Start between 8am and 8pm on the day you choose |
| Expected Thu 26 November | Results | Within three weeks; date from the 2026 handbook |
| Bank holidays | None in the window | No bank holidays in England and Wales between 6 October and 5 November 2026 (GOV.UK) |
The College's online examinations candidate guide (updated 5 August 2026) says candidates are examined on the law only as it appears in the 2026 edition of Blackstone's Police Manuals. The 2027 edition, published in August 2026, is the syllabus for the 2027 sittings. With four weeks to go, do not switch editions. More in which Blackstone's edition.
Next inspector sitting
Inspector exam: Tuesday 3 to Thursday 5 November 2026
Registration closed on 5 October 2026 at 6pm. If you are registered, you are in the final 4 weeks: practise under timed conditions and fix the areas you keep missing.
Results for this sitting are expected by about 26 November 2026 (the College's handbook date).
Dates as we last checked them against the College of Policing. Always confirm yours with the College.
What four weeks can and cannot do
Before the plan, the honest picture. The inspectors' pass mark is 65% (91 of 140 scored questions), ten points higher than the sergeants' bar on almost the same syllabus. These are the last two inspectors' sittings, from the College's results overviews. The "everyone else" column is our own subtraction of the Metropolitan Police figures from the national totals in the same documents.
| Sitting | Sat | Passed | Pass rate | Metropolitan Police | Everyone else (our calculation) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| November 2025 | 1,693 | 413 | 24.4% | 518 sat, 73 passed (14.1%) | 1,175 sat, 340 passed (about 28.9%) |
| May 2026 | 1,739 | 644 | 37.0% | 530 sat, 126 passed (23.8%) | 1,209 sat, 518 passed (about 42.8%) |
Both results documents say an absolute cut score of 65% was applied to all candidates. The pass rate is not a quota: it moved from 24.4% to 37.0% between sittings at the same cut score. The College does not publish how long candidates revised or how many were first-time sitters, so we cannot tell you what share of four-week revisers pass, and nobody else honestly can either. The College also cautions against comparing forces because cohort sizes differ.
| Goal | Realistic in 4 weeks? | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Re-activate law you learned for the sergeants' exam | Yes | Most of the syllabus is shared. Testing brings it back faster than rereading |
| Fix technique: pace, reading the stem, not answering from practice | Yes | These are quick wins and cost no extra content time |
| Close specific gaps your baseline exposes | Yes | If the gaps are a handful of chapters, four weeks is enough to fix them |
| Cover all three Manuals once, actively | Just about | At 13 to 14 hours a week, with no slack for lost days |
| Learn the syllabus from a low base to a 65% standard | Unlikely | From a baseline well below 55%, four weeks is short for 91 of 140. Read the scenarios and the go or no-go section |
| Guarantee a pass | No | No plan can. The 65% cut score is absolute, and papers vary |
About 13 to 14 hours a week, 54 to 56 hours in total: 75 to 90 minutes on most working days and three to four hours on two days a week. If you can only find eight hours a week, keep the three full papers and the error log, and cut the topic blocks to your weakest areas from paper 1. Do not cut the papers to make room for more reading.
91 of 140: the arithmetic behind every target
The handbook (updated 10 September 2026) says the exam is 150 multiple-choice questions in three hours. The 10 questions that performed least well are removed after the sitting, you are not told which, and you are scored on the remaining 140. The inspectors' pass mark is 65%, which the handbook states as 91 correct answers out of 140. The NPPF debrief panel can alter the pass mark in exceptional circumstances, and marginal fails are not reassessed.
| Figure | |
|---|---|
| Scored questions | 140 of the 150 you answer |
| Pass mark | 91 correct of 140 (65%) |
| Wrong answers you can afford | 49 of 140 |
| Correct of 150 needed | Between 91 (if all 10 removed questions were ones you got wrong) and 101 (if all 10 were ones you got right) |
| Average time per question | 72 seconds (180 minutes for 150) |
| Working pace to leave review time | About 64 seconds a question: question 150 at about 160 minutes, 20 minutes for flags |
| Pace checkpoints at 72 seconds | 25 questions = 30 min; 50 = 60 min; 75 = 90 min; 100 = 120 min; 125 = 150 min |
| Words to read | About 24,309 across the 150 questions in May 2026, roughly 135 words a minute over three hours |
Practice papers are usually marked out of everything you answered, with nothing removed. The table converts the two numbers that matter, 65% and the 70% we recommend as a working target, into raw scores for the set sizes this plan uses.
| Set size | 65% (pass line) | 70% (our working target) |
|---|---|---|
| 30-question set | 20 (66.7%) | 21 (70%) |
| 50-question set | 33 (66%) | 35 (70%) |
| 150-question full paper | 98 (65.3%) | 105 (70%) |
Three things can pull a real score below a practice average: the 10 removed questions, which may include ones you got right, a paper that may be harder than your practice material, and an ordinary bad day. Seventy percent of 140 is 98, seven questions clear of 91. That is a margin, not a guarantee. The handbook describes no deduction for a wrong answer and expresses the pass mark as correct answers, so on that wording a blank and a wrong answer score the same: answer every question.
The question mix, and how it shares out your hours
The College publishes a subject area breakdown after each sitting. For the May 2026 inspectors' paper we count 136 subject rows for 140 scored questions: about 52 crime, 29 evidence and procedure and 55 general police duties. Some subjects appear twice in the list, so rows are not exactly questions. Treat the split as approximate. The College says each breakdown is valid only for that sitting and should not be used to work out what will be tested next time.
| Area | Rows (May 2026) | Share | Suggested hours | Biggest skills in the list |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| General police duties | 55 | About 40% | About 15 hours | Entry, search and seizure (6); unsatisfactory performance and attendance (5); public order (4); hatred and harassment (4) |
| Crime | 52 | About 38% | About 14 hours | Theft and related (6); non-fatal offences (6); firearms (5); misuse of drugs (5) |
| Evidence and procedure | 29 | About 21% | About 8 hours | Release of person arrested (6); detention and treatment (5); interviews, Codes C, E and F (5); Code D (4) |
| Full papers and their review | About 15 to 18 hours | Three full papers at three hours each, plus review |
Two adjustments matter more than the averages. First, your baseline: if paper 1 shows crime as your weakest area by a distance, move hours to crime. Second, the inspectors' list is weighted differently from the sergeants' (60, 31 and 49 in March 2026), so if you are working from old sergeants' notes, general police duties needs more of your time than it did then. For a topic-by-topic view of both papers, see what comes up in the exam and sergeant vs inspector exam.
Terrorism, sporting events and road policing definitions each had one row in May 2026. The next paper is built afresh, and every chapter except Crime 1.8 (Weapons) is examinable for inspectors. The plan gives small areas less time, not no time.
Five rules that run through the plan
- Test the same day you read. Every topic session ends with questions answered without the book. A widely cited review of learning research (Dunlosky and others, 2013) rated practice testing and spaced practice as high utility, and rereading and highlighting as low utility.
- Log the cause, not just the topic. Use four causes: did not know it; confused it with a similar rule; misread the stem; answered from what my force does rather than what the Manual says. Each cause has a different fix.
- Retest misses on a schedule. About two days later, then a week later. A point you miss twice goes into a comparison table.
- Score against 65%, not 55%. A 62% practice score would pass the sergeants' exam comfortably. Against 91 of 140 it fails by a handful of questions.
- Use unseen questions for the full papers. A score on questions you have already seen measures memory of those questions, not the law. Keep separate sources for topic practice and for the three papers.
Every session below lists the skills by the names the College used in the May 2026 inspectors' subject list, so you can match them to your Manual's contents. Read the relevant chapter actively first, then test. For the supervisory law that runs across both papers, the PACE 1984 guide and misconduct thresholds guide are useful companions, but always check the detail against the 2026 Manual.
Week 1: Tuesday 6 to Monday 12 October (evidence and procedure, baseline)
Week 1 starts with evidence and procedure because it is the smallest area, it is dense with rules the inspector rank applies directly (detention reviews, bail, identification), and much of it will be familiar from custody and investigation work. The baseline paper sits on the first weekend. This version assumes a Monday to Friday working pattern; the shift-worker version is below.
| Day | Date | Time | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tue 6 Oct | 75 min | Admin and first read. Confirm your registration with your force examinations officer. Check you are using the 2026 Manuals. Set up an error log (four columns: topic, cause, correct rule, retest date). Choose your exam day now (see 'Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday?') and tell your line manager. Then a timed 30-question mixed set at 72 seconds a question. |
| 2 | Wed 7 Oct | 90 min | Evidence and procedure: release of person arrested. Pre-charge release and bail, the custody officer granting bail, grounds for refusing bail, bail restrictions, remands in police custody, absconding. Read actively, then 20 questions without the book. |
| 3 | Thu 8 Oct | 90 min | Detention and treatment under Code C, including reviews and extensions of detention. 20 questions. 10-minute retest of Day 2 misses. |
| 4 | Fri 9 Oct | 75 min | Interviews under Codes C, E and F, including the restriction on drawing adverse inferences and the terms of the caution when it applies. 20 questions. |
| 5 | Sat 10 Oct | 3.5 to 4 hours | FULL PAPER 1: 150 mixed questions in 180 minutes, one sitting, no book, phone in another room. Score against 98 of 150. Do not review today beyond marking. |
| 6 | Sun 11 Oct | 3 hours | Review paper 1: every wrong answer and every lucky guess goes in the error log with a cause. List your eight weakest topics. Then identification under Code D (identification by witnesses, body samples and impressions, video identification, showing photographs). 20 questions. |
| 7 | Mon 12 Oct | 75 min | Disclosure; exclusion of admissible evidence; instituting criminal proceedings; court procedure and witnesses. Mixed 20 questions across all of evidence and procedure. |
For the Day 1 timed set, the free 20-question mini mock runs at the real 72 seconds a question and scores you against the 65% inspector mark. It is our tool and a small sample, so use it to see the format and pace, not to predict your result.
Reading your baseline: what paper 1 tells you to change
Paper 1 on Saturday 10 October decides how you spend the next three weeks. These bands are our guide to adjusting the plan, not a forecast of your result. Practice papers from any provider differ from the real one.
| Paper 1 score | What it suggests | How to adjust weeks 2 to 4 |
|---|---|---|
| 105 or more (70%+) | Already at our working target | Keep the plan but swap breadth for depth: weakest topics, unseen mixed sets, pace. Do not stop practising |
| 98 to 104 (65% to 69%) | On the line, with no margin | Follow the plan as written. Every miss goes in the error log; the margin comes from fixing causes |
| 90 to 97 (60% to 64%) | Close, but below the line | Follow the plan, and move one session a week from your strongest area to your weakest |
| 75 to 89 (50% to 59%) | Would pass the sergeants' bar, well short of this one | Topic blocks first. Replace the Day 12 mixed set with two extra topic sessions. Talk to your force examinations officer if you are thinking of withdrawing |
| Below 75 (under 50%) | A large gap for four weeks | Read the go or no-go section before 19 October. If you sit, focus on the biggest areas and technique, and treat the sitting as a serious attempt |
Look at the error causes as well as the total. If more than about a quarter of your misses are "misread the stem" or "ran out of time", the quickest marks are in technique: slow down on the stem, speed up on the options, and use the 64-second pace. If most are "did not know it", the topic blocks are where the marks are.
Week 2: Tuesday 13 to Monday 19 October (general police duties)
General police duties was the largest area in May 2026 and includes the areas an inspector manages: performance, attendance and misconduct. Many sergeants know the outline of these procedures from HR or professional standards but not the stages, time limits and who decides what, which is exactly what questions test.
| Day | Date | Time | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | Tue 13 Oct | 90 min | General police duties: unsatisfactory performance and attendance (all stages, who holds each meeting, time limits). 20 questions. Retest Day 2 to Day 4 misses. |
| 9 | Wed 14 Oct | 90 min | Complaints and misconduct (procedures, proceedings, the appropriate authority); diversity, equality and inclusion. 20 questions. |
| 10 | Thu 15 Oct | 90 min | Entry, search and seizure; stop and search. These had nine rows between them in May 2026. 25 questions. |
| 11 | Fri 16 Oct | 75 min | Powers of arrest (after arrest, citizen's arrest, Code G information on arrest) and key police powers. 20 questions. |
| 12 | Sat 17 Oct | 3.5 hours | Public order offences; processions, assemblies and protests (including locking on and obstruction of major transport works); hatred and harassment offences. Then a timed 50-question mixed set (60 minutes). Target 30 of 50 or better. |
| 13 | Sun 18 Oct | 3.5 hours | Domestic abuse (definition, protection notices and orders, court orders); protection of people with mental disorders; criminal behaviour orders and orders against parents; licensing closure powers; offences relating to land and premises. 30 questions. |
| 14 | Mon 19 Oct | 75 min | The smaller areas: information and communications offences (including the Data Protection Act 2018), drink and drug driving, dangerous driving and road policing definitions, sporting events, terrorism, administration of justice. Then make the go or no-go decision (see below). |
Day 14: the go or no-go decision
The handbook says forces are charged for every candidate still registered two weeks before the exam date, which for a 3 November start is Tuesday 20 October. It also says that once you withdraw you cannot be re-entered, and you are not moved automatically to the next sitting. If you do not sit within the window you are marked absent, forces are charged for absent candidates, and forces may apply their own penalties. So if you are considering withdrawing, decide by Monday 19 October and tell your force examinations officer immediately.
- Reasons to sit even if you are behind. If your force does not limit attempts, a sitting gives you real exam experience and a feedback report broken down by subject area, which is the best possible starting point for May 2027. There is no national limit on resits.
- Reasons to withdraw. Your force limits the number of attempts, or counts a weak result against you in its own process, or a genuine change in circumstances means you cannot prepare. If you already hold an unexpired inspectors' pass, the handbook says any remaining validity is forfeited from the time you sit the exam, regardless of the result.
- What does not count. The handbook says lack of preparation or a heavy workload is not grounds for an appeal, and illness on the day is your decision: the College cannot offer alternative dates.
Week 3: Tuesday 20 to Monday 26 October (crime, paper 2)
Crime is the second-largest area. Start with the foundations (conduct, state of mind, defences and incomplete offences) because they decide answers across the specific offences that follow. The second full paper falls on Saturday 24 October, and the clocks go back that night.
| Day | Date | Time | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| 15 | Tue 20 Oct | 90 min | Crime foundations: actus reus (voluntary act, omissions, intervening acts), mens rea, incomplete offences, general defences. 20 questions. |
| 16 | Wed 21 Oct | 90 min | Non-fatal offences; homicide. 20 questions. Retest week 2 misses. |
| 17 | Thu 22 Oct | 90 min | Theft and related offences; fraud (false representation, articles for use in frauds). 20 questions. |
| 18 | Fri 23 Oct | 75 min | Criminal damage (including aggravated damage and threats); racially and religiously aggravated offences; misuse of drugs. 20 questions. |
| 19 | Sat 24 Oct | 3.5 to 4 hours | FULL PAPER 2, unseen questions, same conditions as paper 1. Score against 98 of 150 and compare each area with paper 1. |
| 20 | Sun 25 Oct | 3 hours | Clocks went back overnight. Review paper 2 in full. Then firearms and gun crime (criminal use, exemptions, imitation firearms, prohibited weapons, transfers). Skip Crime chapter 1.8, Weapons: it is not on the inspectors' syllabus. |
| 21 | Mon 26 Oct | 75 min | Sexual offences; child protection (child abduction, cruelty, police powers under the Children Act 1989); offences involving deprivation of liberty (false imprisonment, kidnapping, slavery and forced labour). 20 questions. |
Compare paper 2 with paper 1 by area and by error cause, not just by total. If your score rose but "misread the stem" errors stayed level, the next marks are in reading discipline, not more content. If one area has not moved at all, it takes the first two sessions of week 4.
Week 4: Tuesday 27 October to Monday 2 November (consolidate)
Week 4 is about turning what you know into marks: the weakest topics, the final rehearsal and the exam practicalities. From Friday 30 October, no new chapters.
| Day | Date | Time | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | Tue 27 Oct | 90 min | Your two weakest topics from the error log. If the familiarisation link has arrived, do it tonight on your exam device and connection, and check you reach the confirmation screen. |
| 23 | Wed 28 Oct | 90 min | Your next two weakest topics. Write one comparison table for each pair of rules you keep confusing (for example two time limits or two authorising ranks). Keep each table to half a page. |
| 24 | Thu 29 Oct | 3.5 to 4 hours | FULL PAPER 3, your final full rehearsal, at the time of day you plan to sit. If you cannot find three hours, do 75 questions today and 75 tomorrow, each in 90 minutes. |
| 25 | Fri 30 Oct | 75 min | Review paper 3. From today, no new chapters: only the error log, your comparison tables and short mixed sets. |
| 26 | Sat 31 Oct | 2.5 hours | Error log replay: re-answer every logged miss without notes. Then a timed 50-question mixed set. Target 35 of 50. |
| 27 | Sun 1 Nov | 2 hours | Comparison tables; 30 mixed questions; check your login email, device and room (see the final 72 hours). |
| 28 | Mon 2 Nov | 45 to 60 min | Light review only if you sit on Tuesday. If you sit on Wednesday or Thursday, follow the final-72-hours table instead. |
The College's candidate guide says the familiarisation link is emailed about one week before your exam, you can access it once, and it is available until 7pm on your exam day. Doing it on the morning of the exam leaves no time to fix a login, browser or device problem. Do it the evening it arrives, on the device and connection you will use. If it has not arrived 24 hours before your exam date, the guide says to contact your force exams contact.
Weekly targets, and what to do if you miss one
These are our recommendations, based on the 65% bar and the margin argument above, not College figures. Score targets refer to timed, unseen, mixed questions.
| Week | Done by the end of the week | Score target | If you miss it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Week 1 (6 to 12 Oct) | Baseline paper done and reviewed; evidence and procedure covered once; error log started | No score target: the baseline is information, not a verdict | Do not skip the baseline. Without it you are guessing where the marks are |
| Week 2 (13 to 19 Oct) | General police duties covered once; go or no-go decision made | 30 of 50 (60%) on the Day 12 mixed set | Below 25 of 50: see the go or no-go section and talk to your force examinations officer before 20 October |
| Week 3 (20 to 26 Oct) | Crime covered once; paper 2 reviewed | 98 of 150 (65%) on paper 2 | Below 90 of 150: drop breadth, put week 4 into your five weakest topics and the error log |
| Week 4 (27 Oct to 2 Nov) | Familiarisation exercise done; device checked; no new chapters after 30 October | 105 of 150 (70%) on paper 3, or 35 of 50 on unseen mixed sets | Below 98 of 150: you can still pass on the day, but fix pace and reading errors first; they are the fastest marks |
When to sit a full timed 150-question paper
Three full papers in 28 days is the right number for most candidates. One is too few to see whether anything changed; five would eat the topic time a short plan cannot spare.
| Paper | When | What it answers | Why then |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paper 1 | Sat 10 Oct (Day 5) | Baseline: where are the marks, and how is your pace? | You need an honest starting point before choosing what to revise |
| Paper 2 | Sat 24 Oct (Day 19) | Has the score moved, and has each area moved? | Two weeks of topic work in between; still time to change course |
| Paper 3 | Thu 29 Oct (Day 24) | Rehearsal: same time of day, same room, same device type | Leaves four to six days to fix what it shows before your exam |
| No paper | From Fri 30 Oct | Short timed sets only | A full paper in the last 72 hours tires you and gives too little time to act on the result |
Real conditions
- One sitting of 180 minutes. The handbook says comfort breaks are allowed but the clock keeps running, unless you have an agreed reasonable adjustment for scheduled breaks. Practise the same way.
- No book, no notes, no phone. AI tools are strictly prohibited in the real exam. Practise as you will sit.
- Pace checks. Question 50 by about 53 minutes and question 100 by about 107 minutes keeps you on the 64-second pace that leaves 20 minutes for flags.
- Same time of day for paper 3. If you plan to start at 9am on Wednesday, rehearse at 9am.
- Review the right answers too. A correct guess is a gap you have not found yet. Log it.
The shift-worker version: rest-day heavy, nights light
Most inspector candidates are running a team on a rota. The same content fits a shift pattern if you sort the sessions by weight and put the heavy ones on rest days.
| Session | Length | Where it fits |
|---|---|---|
| Full paper (P) | 3.5 to 4 hours | Rest day only, starting at the time of day you plan to sit |
| Long block (L) | 3 hours | Rest days, or a late-shift morning if you slept well |
| Standard session (S) | 75 to 90 minutes | Before a late shift, or after an early shift once you have eaten |
| Light review (R) | 15 to 20 minutes | Night shifts (refreshment break), commutes if you are not driving, the first rest day after nights |
| Off | None | The first sleep after a run of nights; one day a week if your rota allows |
The table below applies those rules to an illustrative ten-day cycle of two earlies, two lates, two nights and four rest days, starting on Tuesday 6 October. It is an example only; forces and teams run many different patterns, so use it to see how the sessions move, then map your own rota.
| Date | Shift (example) | Session |
|---|---|---|
| Tue 6 Oct | Early | S: admin, error log, 30-question timed set |
| Wed 7 Oct | Early | S: release of person arrested and bail |
| Thu 8 Oct | Late | S (morning): detention and treatment, Code C |
| Fri 9 Oct | Late | S (morning): interviews, Codes C, E and F |
| Sat 10 Oct | Night | R: retest Days 2 to 4 misses |
| Sun 11 Oct | Night | R: 10 questions |
| Mon 12 Oct | Rest (after nights) | Off or R only |
| Tue 13 Oct | Rest | P: full paper 1 (baseline) |
| Wed 14 Oct | Rest | L: review paper 1; Code D; disclosure; exclusion of evidence; court procedure |
| Thu 15 Oct | Rest | L: unsatisfactory performance and attendance; complaints and misconduct; diversity |
| Fri 16 Oct | Early | S: entry, search and seizure; stop and search |
| Sat 17 Oct | Early | S: powers of arrest; key police powers |
| Sun 18 Oct | Late | S (morning): public order; processions and protests; hatred and harassment |
| Mon 19 Oct | Late | S (morning): domestic abuse; mental health; orders. Go or no-go decision today |
| Tue 20 Oct | Night | R: retest week 1 and 2 misses |
| Wed 21 Oct | Night | R: 10 questions |
| Thu 22 Oct | Rest (after nights) | Off or R only |
| Fri 23 Oct | Rest | L: the smaller general police duties areas; crime foundations (actus reus, mens rea, incomplete offences, defences) |
| Sat 24 Oct | Rest | P: full paper 2 |
| Sun 25 Oct | Rest (clocks back) | L: review paper 2; non-fatal offences; homicide; theft and fraud |
| Mon 26 Oct | Early | S: criminal damage; aggravated offences; misuse of drugs |
| Tue 27 Oct | Early | S: firearms; deprivation of liberty. Familiarisation exercise if the link has arrived |
| Wed 28 Oct | Late | S (morning): sexual offences; child protection |
| Thu 29 Oct | Late | S (morning): 75-question half paper in 90 minutes |
| Fri 30 Oct | Night | R: error log only |
| Sat 31 Oct | Night | R: error log only |
| Sun 1 Nov | Rest (after nights) | Off. Sleep is the priority |
| Mon 2 Nov | Rest | S: error log replay; 50-question timed set; device and room check |
| Tue 3 Nov | Rest | Light review, early night (or sit today if you feel fully recovered) |
| Wed 4 Nov | Rest | Exam: the better day on this rota |
What the example shows
- Full papers move to rest days: Tuesday 13 and Saturday 24 October here, not the weekends in the standard plan. The third becomes a half paper on a late-shift morning because no suitable rest day falls in the right place.
- Nights directly before the window are the biggest risk. In this example the last nights end on the morning of Sunday 1 November. Sitting on Wednesday 4 November gives two full recovery days. If your rota does the same, ask early whether a swap is possible; we found no national entitlement to study leave or rest before the exam, so it is a local decision.
- The clocks go back on Sunday 25 October. If you work nights that weekend, check how your force handles the extra hour, and plan nothing heavy for the day after.
- Protect the last week. If you can, avoid booking overtime or extra duties between 27 October and your exam.
If you can give fewer or more hours than this plan assumes, the free exam study planner builds a week-by-week plan from your exam date and the hours you can give each week; then place its sessions on your rota using the rules above. For the wider strain of revising on top of a supervisory job, see promotion and work-life balance.
The final 72 hours
The last three days are for consolidation and logistics, not learning. Find the column for the day you will sit.
| When | Sitting Tue 3 Nov | Sitting Wed 4 Nov | Sitting Thu 5 Nov | What to do |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 days before | Sat 31 Oct | Sun 1 Nov | Mon 2 Nov | Last timed 50-question mixed set. Error log replay. No new chapters, no full paper |
| 2 days before | Sun 1 Nov | Mon 2 Nov | Tue 3 Nov | Comparison tables and your 20 most-missed rules. Find your login email from the College and test the device, browser and connection. Plan the room and who needs to know not to interrupt |
| 1 day before | Mon 2 Nov | Tue 3 Nov | Wed 4 Nov | 30 to 60 minutes of light review at most. Charge the device, pause automatic updates if you can, prepare water and food. Normal bedtime |
| Exam day | Tue 3 Nov | Wed 4 Nov | Thu 5 Nov | Start at the time you rehearsed. Work at about 64 seconds a question, flag and move on when stuck, answer every question, use the last 20 minutes for flags |
If you sit on Wednesday or Thursday, the plan's Day 28 (Monday 2 November) becomes a normal consolidation day: error log replay and a 50-question timed set. Do not use the extra days for another full paper.
Do not cram. If you want a warm-up, answer five or ten easy questions you have seen before, then stop. Eat, sort water, close every other program, and tell anyone at home that the next three hours are not interruptible.
Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday?
The handbook says there is flexibility to sit on any day within the exam period, and the candidate guide says you can start at any time between 8am and 8pm, but you must start before 8pm. The College provides candidate support from 8am to 8pm on exam days and recommends finishing before 8pm in case something goes wrong, so a start by about 4.30pm keeps the full three hours, with a little slack, inside support hours.
| Day | For | Against |
|---|---|---|
| Tuesday 3 November | Gets it done; no risk of hearing anything about the paper | One fewer day to revise; if anything goes wrong at home you have no fallback day in the window |
| Wednesday 4 November | An extra day of light review; a fallback day either side | Colleagues who sat on Tuesday must not discuss the paper, but you may still feel the pressure of others having finished |
| Thursday 5 November | The most preparation time | No fallback day if your connection, health or a work call disrupts you. If you start late, you are against the 8pm cut-off on the last day |
For most candidates on a standard working week, Wednesday morning is a sensible default: it leaves a fallback day either side and keeps the plan's dates intact. On a rota, choose the day after your best sleep, not the day after nights.
Exam-day logistics: the pointers
- Where. Online, at home or at work. The handbook says there is no national requirement to sit at a testing centre or under supervision; you are responsible for a suitable environment. Some forces provide a centre.
- Login. Your login details come by email from the College. Keep the email somewhere you can find on the day, and copy and paste the username.
- On the platform. You can flag questions to return to and use a notepad that is deleted when you submit. The candidate guide says that if your connection drops, the system lets you continue offline; if it cannot reconnect by the end, it asks you to download an encrypted answer file to email to the College, so keep your login email to hand.
- The clock. It must not be paused; comfort breaks come out of your three hours.
- Rules. AI tools are strictly prohibited. Copying, photographing or screenshotting a question, or putting any part of one into an AI tool or search engine, is a breach.
- If something goes wrong. Report an unscheduled incident in writing, with your evidence, so that the College's exams team receives it no later than three days after your exam. The 2026 handbook says to send it to the College, copying in your force examinations officer, and gives 8pm on Sunday 8 November 2026 as the deadline for this sitting.
- If you are unwell. It is your decision whether to sit, and the College cannot offer another date. If you are off sick or on limited duties, the handbook requires a fitness certificate from your force medical examiner.
- Afterwards. Do not discuss questions or topic areas with anyone, including colleagues sitting later in the window and on social media.
Everything above is covered in more depth, with the College's wording, in NPPF online exam rules and exam day.
Scenarios: adjusting the plan to your baseline
Illustrative examples, not real candidates.
Mistakes that cost marks in the last month
More patterns, and the reasons behind them, in why good officers fail the inspector exam and how hard is the inspector exam.
The 28-day checklist
- Day 1 (Tue 6 Oct): confirm your registration for 3 to 5 November 2026 with your force examinations officer.
- Day 1 (Tue 6 Oct): check you are revising from the 2026 edition of the Manuals, not the 2027 edition.
- Day 1 (Tue 6 Oct): choose your exam day and start time, and book it with your line manager and anyone at home.
- Day 1 (Tue 6 Oct): start the error log, with a cause for every miss.
- Sat 10 Oct: full paper 1 under real conditions.
- Mon 19 Oct: go or no-go decision, discussed with your force examinations officer if you are unsure.
- Sat 24 Oct: full paper 2.
- As soon as it arrives (about Tue 27 Oct): the familiarisation exercise, once, on your exam device.
- Thu 29 Oct: full paper 3, your last.
- From Fri 30 Oct: no new chapters.
- Two days before your exam: find the login email, test the device, browser and connection, and sort the room.
- Exam day: answer every question, flag and move on, start before 8pm (earlier is better).
- After the exam: do not discuss questions or topic areas with anyone, including online.
Where the practice questions come from
Followed in full, this plan adds up to about 950 question attempts before retests: roughly 335 in the daily topic tests, 450 in the three full papers and about 160 in timed mixed sets. The 450 in the papers should be questions you have not seen. No single source covers that comfortably, so most candidates combine several.
- Blackstone's Police Manuals, 2026 edition. The syllabus itself and the only material the College endorses. The College's handbook says a 30% discount on the Manuals is available to police officers and staff in England and Wales, with the code on College Learn (login needed). Nothing on this page replaces them.
- The College's Knowledge Hub group. The College says practice questions are in its Candidate Online Examination Guidance group (login needed). They come from the body that sets the exam, so use them. See free sergeant and inspector exam resources.
- Blackstone's Q&As, mock paper and online service, and other providers. Several are good, and Blackstone's online service offers tests and mock exams, with your results saved to a personal profile (its service page, checked 4 October 2026). Prices and features, with the dates we checked them, are in revision resources compared. The College says the Q&As are not affiliated with it.
- Free samples from us. Inspector exam sample questions with explanations, useful for the daily topic tests.
- Our toolkit. Disclosure: the promotion exam prep toolkit is our product. For the inspector paper it has 342 checked, original practice questions (the 5 on the sergeants-only weapons chapter are left out), a timed 150-question sitting scored against the 65% inspector mark, spaced review of what you got wrong, progress tracking and 16 board scenarios, for £69.99 for 6 months as a one-off payment (£99.99 with an AI tutor and AI board assessor), with a 14-day refund, no reason needed. Be clear about the limits: 342 questions gives you about two unseen full sittings, not three, so pair it with another source for paper 3; the inspector full sitting is weighted across the three areas like the May 2026 inspectors' subject list, which is approximate and only a guide to the next paper; its questions are not real exam questions; it does not replace the Manuals; and we have no data on whether users pass.
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.
What we could not verify
- How long successful candidates revise. The College publishes no data, so the hours and targets on this page are our recommendations, not measured figures.
- The exact May 2026 question mix. The subject list has 136 rows for 140 scored questions, and some subjects appear twice, so 52, 29 and 55 is approximate. The November 2026 paper will differ.
- The results date and incident deadline for this sitting. Thursday 26 November 2026 (results "by") and 8pm on Sunday 8 November 2026 (unscheduled incidents) come from the 2026 handbook PDF, which we re-read on the College's asset server on 6 October 2026. The College's web handbook is now the 2027 version, which confirms results within three weeks and incident reports within three days but does not repeat these dates. The College tells force examinations officers the actual release date, so 26 November is an expected date.
- The exact familiarisation date. The candidate guide says "approximately one week before"; 27 October is our estimate for a 3 November start.
- Your force's withdrawal cut-off, attempt limits and penalties for absence. These are set locally. The College's two-week charging rule is a national fact; how your force applies it is not.
- Negative marking. The handbook does not say in terms that wrong answers carry no penalty. Our advice to answer every question rests on the pass mark being expressed as correct answers.
- Study leave. We found no national entitlement to study leave for the exam. Arrangements are local.
- The Knowledge Hub materials. They sit behind a login, so we have not reviewed what the College's practice questions cover for inspectors.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can you pass the inspector exam with 4 weeks of revision?
It is possible if you start from a reasonable base, but four weeks is short for a 65% bar. The College publishes no data on how long candidates revise, so nobody can give you an honest success rate for a four-week plan. What we can say is that only 37.0% of all candidates passed in May 2026 and 24.4% in November 2025, so a short plan has to be efficient: test-based, ordered by your weakest areas, and built around full timed papers.
When is the November 2026 inspector exam?
Tuesday 3 to Thursday 5 November 2026, according to the College of Policing exam page (checked 6 October 2026). You sit online on one day of your choice in that window, starting between 8am and 8pm. Registration closed at 6pm on Monday 5 October 2026, so this plan is for candidates who are already registered.
Which Blackstone's edition do I revise from for November 2026?
The 2026 edition of Blackstone's Police Manuals. The College's online examinations candidate guide (updated 5 August 2026) says candidates will be examined on the law only as it appears in the 2026 edition. The 2027 edition, published in August 2026, is the syllabus for the 2027 sittings, so do not switch to it for this exam.
How many questions do I need to get right to pass the inspector exam?
91 out of the 140 questions that are scored, which is 65%. You answer 150, and the 10 that performed least well are removed after the sitting without you being told which. That means you need somewhere between 91 and 101 correct answers out of 150, depending on which questions are removed.
How much time do I get per question?
180 minutes for 150 questions is 72 seconds a question on average. In practice, aim to work through all 150 at about 64 seconds each on the first pass, which reaches question 150 at around 160 minutes and leaves about 20 minutes for flagged questions.
When should I sit a full timed practice paper?
In this plan, three times: Saturday 10 October as a baseline, Saturday 24 October as a mid-point check and Thursday 29 October as a final rehearsal. Leave at least four days between your last full paper and your exam so you can fix what it shows, and do not sit a full 150-question paper in the final 72 hours.
What practice score should I be getting a week before the exam?
Our recommendation is 70% or more on unseen, timed, mixed questions, which is 105 of 150 on a full paper. That gives a margin over 65% in case the removed questions include ones you got right, a harder paper and an ordinary off day. It is a guide, not a prediction: practice questions from any provider are not the real paper.
What is the question mix on the inspector paper?
The College's subject breakdown for May 2026 lists about 52 crime, 29 evidence and procedure and 55 general police duties subjects (136 rows for 140 scored questions, so treat it as approximate). The College says each breakdown is valid only for that sitting and should not be used to predict future papers. Use it to share out your time, not to drop topics.
Should I withdraw if my first practice paper is poor?
Decide by Monday 19 October. The handbook says forces are charged for every candidate still registered two weeks before the exam, and once you withdraw you cannot be re-entered or automatically moved to the next sitting. If your force does not limit attempts, sitting gives you a subject-area feedback report for a May 2027 attempt; if it does, a weak attempt may cost you a sitting. Talk to your force examinations officer before you decide.
Is Crime chapter 1.8 (Weapons) on the inspector exam?
No. The candidate handbook says chapter 1.8 is for the sergeants' examination only. Firearms and gun crime is a separate chapter and is examinable for inspectors: it had five rows in the May 2026 inspectors' subject list.
How do I revise for the inspector exam on shifts?
Put the heavy sessions (full papers and long topic blocks) on rest days, do 75 to 90 minute sessions before lates or after earlies, and keep night shifts to 15 to 20 minutes of spaced review. Do not plan anything demanding for the first day after a run of nights. If your rota puts nights directly before the exam window, consider sitting on the Wednesday or Thursday, or ask early about a swap.
When does the familiarisation exercise arrive?
The College's candidate guide says you are emailed a link about one week before your exam, so around Tuesday 27 October for this sitting. You can access it only once, and it is available until 7pm on your exam day. Do it as soon as it arrives, on the device and connection you will use for the real exam.
When are the November 2026 inspector exam results out?
The handbook says results are released within three weeks of the exam. The 2026 handbook says candidates can expect results by Thursday 26 November 2026 for this sitting; treat that as the expected date, not a promise. The handbook says a pass is valid for five years (less one day), and its validity table says a pass at the 3 to 5 November 2026 sitting means you must have undertaken the final stage of step three by 4 November 2031.
Can I talk about the exam with colleagues who sat it on Tuesday?
No. The handbook lists discussing questions or topic areas in the exam with someone else, including on social media, as a breach. Because the window runs over three days, colleagues sitting later could gain an advantage, and the consequences can include disqualification and referral to professional standards.
Sources and how we checked them
Every factual claim on this page was written from the sources below, read on 6 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: Sergeants' and inspectors' NPPF step two legal exams (exam hub) — November 2026 inspectors' exam Tuesday 3 to Thursday 5 November; registration opened Monday 7 September and closed 6pm Monday 5 October 2026; 2027 dates; links to the May 2026 results and subject breakdown PDFs. Read on the College's production mirror on 6 October 2026 because the main site returned 403 (accessed 6 October 2026)
- College of Policing: NPPF step two legal examinations candidate handbook (updated 10 September 2026) — 150 questions in three hours; 10 removed (those that performed least well), scored on 140; pass marks 55% (77) and 65% (91); debrief panel can alter the pass mark in exceptional circumstances; marginal fails not reassessed; chapter 1.8 sergeants only; comfort breaks with the clock running; withdrawals (forces charged for candidates registered two weeks before the exam; no re-entry); absence and force penalties; sickness and FME certificates; heavy workload not grounds for appeal; discussing questions or topic areas is a breach; results within three weeks; pass valid five years less one day, validity table (3 to 5 November 2026 sitting: final stage of step three by 4 November 2031); resitting forfeits remaining validity; 30% Manuals discount via College Learn. Read 6 October 2026 (accessed 6 October 2026)
- College of Policing: NPPF step two legal examinations candidate handbook 2026 (PDF, September 2025) — November 2026 inspectors' exam 3 to 5 November; results expected by Thursday 26 November 2026; unscheduled incident deadline 8pm Sunday 8 November 2026; reports sent to the College copying in the force examinations officer, within three days; no national restriction on resits. Re-read 6 October 2026 (accessed 6 October 2026)
- College of Policing: Online examinations candidate guide (updated 5 August 2026) — examined on the law only as it appears in the 2026 edition of the Manuals; start between 8am and 8pm and before 8pm; candidate support 8am to 8pm; familiarisation exercise emailed about one week before, accessible once, available until 7pm on your exam day, contact your force if not received 24 hours before; flagging and notepad; continuing offline if the connection drops, with an encrypted answer file to email if it cannot reconnect. Read 6 October 2026 (accessed 6 October 2026)
- College of Policing: NPPF inspectors' step two legal exam, results and analysis overview, May 2026 (PDF) — absolute cut score of 65%; 644 successful (37.0%), 1,095 unsuccessful; Metropolitan Police 530 sat, 126 passed (23.8%); caution on comparing forces (accessed 6 October 2026)
- College of Policing: NPPF inspectors' step two legal exam, results and analysis overview, November 2025 (PDF) — absolute cut score of 65%; 413 successful (24.4%), 1,280 unsuccessful; Metropolitan Police 518 sat, 73 passed (14.1%) (accessed 6 October 2026)
- College of Policing: NPPF inspectors' step two legal exam, subject area breakdown, May 2026 (PDF) — 136 subject rows: 52 crime, 29 evidence and procedure, 55 general police duties (our count); questions removed: crime 4, evidence and procedure 1, general police duties 5; about 24,309 words across 150 questions. The skill names used in our day plan come from this list (accessed 6 October 2026)
- GOV.UK: UK bank holidays — no bank holidays in England and Wales between 6 October and 5 November 2026; the next are Christmas Day (25 December) and Boxing Day (substitute day, 28 December). Checked 6 October 2026 (accessed 6 October 2026)
- GOV.UK: When do the clocks change? — clocks go back on Sunday 25 October 2026. Checked 6 October 2026 (accessed 6 October 2026)
- Dunlosky, Rawson, Marsh, Nathan and Willingham (2013), Improving Students' Learning With Effective Learning Techniques, Psychological Science in the Public Interest 14(1), 4 to 58 — practice testing and distributed practice rated high utility; rereading and highlighting rated low utility (accessed 6 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, syllabus editions and prices change, so check the College of Policing's current candidate handbook and exam pages before you register or buy. Practice material on this site is original and is not real exam content. Details apply to England and Wales unless stated. Details are as checked on 6 October 2026.