PELLET B Tests in 2024

Are you planning on starting a career as a peace officer in California? Then you may need to take the POST Entry‐Level Law Enforcement Test Battery (also known as the PELLETB Test).

Why Take The PELLET B Test?

As stipulated in Commission Regulation 1951, all peace officers must have the reading and writing abilities necessary to perform the job of peace officer, as assessed by a professionally developed exam.

The PELLETB is an aptitude test specifically designed to measure the skills needed to work successfully as a peace officer in the state of California. Many agencies and academies view a high score on the PELLETB as a sign of preparedness for a law enforcement career.

What Does The PELLET B Test Measure?

The test primarily focuses on language capacity, evaluating candidates in the following competencies:

• Writing ability (clarity, vocabulary, and spelling)
• Reading ability (comprehension)
• Reasoning ability (analysis and relationships)

History of the PELLET B Exam

Established in 1959, the Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) was created by the California state legislature to set a minimum threshold for selection and training of law enforcement officers.

Over 600 agencies now participate in this voluntary program (which is wholly funded by criminal fines and traffic fines).

In 1976, POST recognized the importance of a proficiency exam to assess the basic language skills for all entry-level law enforcement positions.

The PELLETB was soon developed to standardize the reading and writing abilities necessary to perform the role of a peace officer.

What Is the PELLET B Test Format?

The test length is 2 hours and 30 minutes and uses multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank style questions.

The PELLETB examines three different components (writing, reading and reasoning) and each has various sub-categories.

Let’s take a look at each in greater depth.

Writing Ability

This section involves a total of 45 multiple‐choice questions across three different areas.

1. Clarity Sub-Test (15 items)

You will be given two sentences and must select which one is the most clear and correctly composed. This may involve common writing errors such as run-on sentences, fragments, misplaced modifiers and unclear references.

2. Spelling Sub-Test (15 items)

You will be provided with a sentence where a word has been omitted. Four different spellings of the same word will be offered below it. You’ll need to choose the correct spelling according to the context.

3. Vocabulary Sub-Test (15 items)

This presents a sentence where one word has been underlined or capitalized. From a multiple-choice list, you must identify which word is the most accurate definition or synonym.

(Note that all the words presented in the spelling and vocabulary sub-tests will only involve everyday words frequently used within a law enforcement environment.)

Reading Ability

Your reading skills will be examined in this section through two different sub-tests:

1. Comprehension Sub-Test (20 items)

You will encounter various passages, each ranging in length from one paragraph to one page. Once you have read the text carefully, you’ll answer multiple-choice questions that demonstrate you fully understand the content of the passage.

2. Cloze Sub-Test (40 items)

Here you'll find a written passage in which many words have been left blank. A dashed line is used to replace a single missing word (which can be inferred from the context). Each dash in the line also represents a single letter in the missing word. Your task is to fill in the blanks by deducing the correct word according to the context, syntax and meaning of the passage.

All words will need to come from your own vocabulary; none will be supplied to you. Sometimes there can be several correct replacement words and at other times, only one word will be considered correct. When multiple different words can be correctly used as a replacement, you’ll receive credit if the word matches the context appropriately.

**### Reasoning Ability

This section uses a multiple-choice format to measure your reasoning skills.

16 multiple-choice questions are presented, each involving a sequence of numbers, letters, words or facts. You will need to analyze and discover relationships, patterns or commonalities within the sequence that allow you to answer questions about the information/data/facts presented.

1. Ordering Information

2. Grouping Information

3. Pattern Recognition

How Is the PELLET B Test Scored?

The raw scores of the test (number of correct answers) are electronically scanned, statistically analyzed and calculated to produce a standardized 'T-score'.

The T-score compares your test performance to other test-takers, producing a midpoint score of 50 (where most results tend to fall), with a standard deviation of 10.

What Is a Pass?

T-scores achieving near the 50 mark are deemed to be 'average' when compared to other candidates. Lower than 40 is viewed as being 'below average'.

Higher than 60 is considered 'above average'.

To increase your chances of successfully completing your academy training, you must achieve a T-score of 42 or higher.

How Long Are Scores Considered Valid?

When you apply for a job at a department that uses the PELLETB test, they will provide you with a letter that informs you of your T-score results.

Test scores are valid for life and this letter can be repeatedly submitted when applying to different departments in the future.

However, the acceptance of this letter, as well as all policy regarding test expiry dates, is wholly at the discretion of each department. Some departments may ask you to retake the test.

What If You Fail?

Don’t worry – you can take the test again after 30 days have passed (this applies even if taking the exam again via another agency or department).

Your test results will be invalid, however, if you retake the PELLETB sooner than 30 days have elapsed.

Where to Take the PELLET B Test?

The test is free, but you can only take it in paper-and-pencil format.

Only POST-authorized law enforcement agencies can give the exam within California. You must contact a participating agency to inquire if they currently administer the exam and when or where it is due to be scheduled.

How to Prepare for the PELLET B Test in 2024

General reading and writing skills take a long time to develop, and will only be enhanced significantly through constant practice.

Community colleges have assessment centers that can help you identify any existing weaknesses in your language skills; they will also guide you on what actions you can take to remedy those faults.

In each test component, there are several areas where strategy and study could significantly increase your T-score:

Clarity

Study should greatly improve your score here.

This subtest requires the capacity to identify clear and unclear sentences based on common writing faults.

All the writing faults in this section involve modification, vague or indefinite references, run-on sentences and sentence fragments.

If you carefully review language rules regarding these faults, your test score should improve noticeably.

Vocabulary

Try to spend plenty of time reading and writing every day, perhaps setting time aside especially for the purpose.

But don’t attempt to learn long lists of isolated words.

Instead, just become familiar with the English language through active and constant use, particularly through reading books or newspapers for prolonged periods.

If you don’t recognize a word in the test, attempt to understand the context instead, deducing the most likely meaning from the way it appears within the overall sentence.

You should also check for subtle differences between words; sometimes more than one word could fit the answer, so you should try to find differences to determine which word is the most correct.

Spelling

There is no single list of words to study for this section, although all words used here are likely to appear in real police reports.

The best approach is simply to become familiar with some of the general rules that standardize the spelling of words.

The most important spelling rules are those which govern prefixes, suffixes, plural forms of nouns and the 'i and e rule'.

Reading Comprehension

Before reading the passage in this sub-test, first look at the question and multiple-choice answers. Then, when you start reading the passage, keep the question and possible answers firmly in mind.

Always read the question thoroughly, ensuring that you do not misread.

It is also vital not to let your personal opinions or knowledge on the subject interfere with your answers in this section; high scores will come solely from the information contained in the passage.

Now you have become familiar with the PELLETB, including the requirements, format and content, this knowledge should help curtail any anxiety you might feel about taking the test.

Frequesntly Asked Questions (FAQs)

Further Resources

These additional resources may prove useful:

POST provides helpful FAQs on their official website

The POST study guide (free) includes real exam covers, as well as PELLETB test prep questions and answers

JobTestPrep has a concise overview of the test structure

Check out our list of courses to help you prepare for a police exam.