NPOST study guide, section by section

Reading is the largest section. Report writing is the smallest, but you write those answers out, so it takes longer per item than its count suggests: 10 items in 15 min.

• Mathematics20 items
• Reading Comprehension25 items
• Grammar20 items
• Incident Report Writing10 items

Source: Stanard & Associates study guide, as published by Utah POST, p. 4 · checked Oct 21, 2026

1. Take a baseline. Do the practice test with a timer per section and score each section on its own. Iowa, West Jordan and the U.S. Capitol Police require 70% per section, so at those agencies your weakest section decides the result.
2. Math, 20 items in 20 min. General and money arithmetic only; no algebra or geometry. Drill by hand: an average after one day is left out, a total minus one item, a percent of a dollar amount, decimals, shift hours across midnight. Math
3. Reading, 25 items in 25 min. Policies, short studies and report forms. You need no knowledge of law, so answer from the passage alone. Reading
4. Grammar, 20 items in 15 min. The fastest pace on the test, under a minute an item: its/it’s and whose/who’s, tense in a run of past events, comma splices, the misspelled word. Grammar
5. Report writing, 10 items in 15 min. You read a completed incident form and answer each question in a sentence; full credit needs the correct information, a complete sentence, correct grammar and no misspelled words. Practice by writing answers out, then check every word. Report writing

• Clock: Each section starts and stops on the examiner's call; spare time can only be used to check that section. Pace each section on its own.
• Guessing: No penalty for guessing. A blank scores the same as a wrong answer, so fill every item.
• Calculator: Not allowed; scratch paper is provided.

• Mathematics →20 items on the exam
• Reading Comprehension →25 items on the exam
• Grammar →20 items on the exam
• Incident Report Writing →10 items on the exam