California POST · Entry-Level Law Enforcement Test Battery
The Pellet B (PELLETB) is the reading and writing test California police departments and academies give before they hire you. It has 65–78 multiple-choice questions on paper, with no math section, no video and no essay to write. Below: what each of the four sub-tests asks, how the T-score works and which departments take the score.
The California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) wrote the PELLETB and keeps it. Its full name is the POST Entry-Level Law Enforcement Test Battery, and California departments also call it the PELLET-B, the POST test or the POST reading and writing test. Regulation 1951 requires every California peace officer candidate to show reading and writing ability, and this battery is POST's own test for it. The regulation also allows another validated test, so some departments use a different one (California).
The test is aptitude, not knowledge. You won't be asked about laws, procedures or police work, and nothing on it needs a calculator. What it does test, in two parts: writing (clarity, vocabulary, spelling) and reading comprehension.
Outside California, “POST test” often means a different exam, the NPOST, from another publisher. If a posting in another state asks for a POST test, check which one it means before you study.
Select the sentence that is written most clearly and correctly.
Answer explanations
Correct: The because-clause is joined to the main clause it explains, giving one complete sentence.
Incorrect: A period splits off the because-clause, leaving a dependent clause standing alone as a fragment.
Supervisor's Log: Morning Briefing. Officer Grant, who was recently counseled about tardiness, arrived twenty minutes after the briefing had already ended. Grant offered no explanation. This is his third late arrival in two weeks. A formal attendance discussion will be scheduled if the pattern continues.
Based on the passage, what does the log indicate about Officer Grant's attendance?
Answer explanations
Incorrect: The log says Grant offered no explanation, so no cause such as traffic is known.
Correct: The log calls this his third late arrival in two weeks.
Incorrect: He arrived twenty minutes after the briefing ended, so he was not early.
Incorrect: The log mentions only a formal attendance discussion if the pattern continues, not a suspension.
The officer's ______ testimony was crucial to securing the conviction.
Answer explanations
Incorrect: "credeble" has "e" where the correct spelling has "i" (cred[i]ble).
Incorrect: "credable" has "a" where the correct spelling has "i" (cred[i]ble).
Correct: "credible" is the correct spelling: c-r-e-d-i-b-l-e.
Incorrect: "creddible" doubles the "d" (cre[d]dible).
The court issued an order to SUBPOENA the reluctant witness. Choose the word that most nearly means the capitalized word.
Answer explanations
Incorrect: To excuse a witness is to release them, the reverse of a subpoena.
Incorrect: To dismiss a witness is to send them away rather than call them in.
Incorrect: A subpoena compels attendance; it is not a reward of any kind.
Correct: To summon a witness is to order them to appear, which is what a subpoena does.
Select the sentence that is written most clearly and correctly.
Answer explanations
Correct: The sergeant appears right after the opening phrase, so it is clear who was reviewing the report.
Incorrect: Nobody in the sentence does the reviewing, because "an error was found" is passive, so the opening phrase dangles.
Answer every question to see your score
Clarity questions here give you two sentences to choose between; the rest have four options. The practice test has more, sorted by sub-test.
POST publishes a range of items for each sub-test, not a percentage. The writing part has 45–54 items across clarity, vocabulary and spelling. Reading comprehension alone has 20–24, so it is the single biggest block. Each name links to a page with questions from that sub-test only.
Source: POST Applicant Preparation Guide, form version 2025, pp. 1–2 · checked 21 Oct 2026
| Fact | Detail | Source | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Run by | California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) | California POST: Applicant Preparation Guide for the PELLETB (2025 form) · California POST: Peace Officer Candidate Selection Standards (Regulation 1951) | Oct 21, 2026 |
| Also called | POST Entry-Level Law Enforcement Test Battery, PELLET-B, POST test, POST reading and writing test | California POST: PELLETB applicant FAQs (page updated 9/16/2026) · California POST: Applicant Preparation Guide for the PELLETB (2025 form) | Oct 21, 2026 |
| Sections | Writing (clarity, vocabulary, spelling) and reading comprehensiontwo parts, four sub-tests | California POST: Applicant Preparation Guide for the PELLETB (2025 form) | Oct 21, 2026 |
| Questions | 65–78 multiple-choice items15–18 in each writing sub-test, 20–24 in reading comprehension | California POST: Applicant Preparation Guide for the PELLETB (2025 form) | Oct 21, 2026 |
| Testing time | 1 hour 45 minutes of testingabout 2 hours 15 minutes in total, including 30 minutes of instructions | California POST: Agency FAQs on the PELLETB CLOZE sub-test removal · California POST: PELLETB agency FAQs (page updated 10/20/2026) | Oct 21, 2026 |
| Format | Paper and pencil; no online version | California POST: PELLETB applicant FAQs (page updated 9/16/2026) | Oct 21, 2026 |
| Where you test | Only inside California, at sessions run by POST-authorized agencies and academies; POST publishes no list of test datesPOST publishes a list of participating agencies that may offer entry-level testing | California POST: PELLETB applicant FAQs (page updated 9/16/2026) · California POST: California law enforcement agencies (POST participating agencies) | Oct 21, 2026 |
| How it is scored | T-score: mean 50, standard deviation 10; Reading, Writing and Total scores are reported40 or below is below average, 60 or above is above average | California POST: Applicant Preparation Guide for the PELLETB (2025 form) · California POST: Agency FAQs on the PELLETB CLOZE sub-test removal | Oct 21, 2026 |
| Passing score | Set by each hiring agencyPOST recommends a T-score of 42 or higher | California POST: Agency FAQs on the PELLETB CLOZE sub-test removal · California POST: Applicant Preparation Guide for the PELLETB (2025 form) | Oct 21, 2026 |
| Results | From the agency or academy that gave the test, within 30 days; POST does not release scores to applicants | California POST: PELLETB applicant FAQs (page updated 9/16/2026) | Oct 21, 2026 |
| Retake rule | Wait 30 calendar days, counted across all agencies; a retest within 30 days is invalidatedthe earliest retest is day 31 after the last test | California POST: PELLETB applicant FAQs (page updated 9/16/2026) | Oct 21, 2026 |
| Score valid for | No POST time limit; each agency may set its own window | California POST: PELLETB applicant FAQs (page updated 9/16/2026) | Oct 21, 2026 |
| Test fee | POST charges no test feePOST bills agencies only for expedited shipping of answer sheets; it publishes no fee for local test sessions | California POST: PELLETB agency FAQs (page updated 10/20/2026) | Oct 21, 2026 |
| Versions | One current form (2025); agencies cannot choose the pre-2025 version with CLOZE | California POST: Agency FAQs on the PELLETB CLOZE sub-test removal · California POST: Applicant Preparation Guide for the PELLETB (2025 form) | Oct 21, 2026 |
POST scans your answer sheet, counts the questions you got right and converts that raw count into a standardized score, the T-score (mean 50). You get a reading, a writing and a total score. On this scale, 40 or below is below average, 60 or above is above average.
A T-score is not a percentage. A 50 means you did as well as the typical applicant, not that you got half the questions right. POST recommends that agencies set the cut at 42+, because its research links every point above that line to a better chance of finishing the academy. Each department still sets its own cut, which is why the same score can pass in one city and fail in another. Passing scores in detail.
Myth: 42 is the passing score everywhere
42 is POST's recommendation, not a rule. LAPD and SFPD use it, but Oakland PD asks for 45+ and Santa Ana PD for a score of 46 or higher, taken within one year of the application date. SDPD wants 42 in reading, writing and total, not just overall. Read the posting of the department you are applying to.
Departments use the score in three different ways, and the difference changes how you plan:
Not every big California agency is on that list: LASD gives its own written test. The California page has the state rule, and the department directory shows each agency's test with its source.
The CLOZE section is gone
Since January 1, 2025, the test has four sub-tests, not five: POST dropped the CLOZE section. Prep material that still has it was written for the old test. What changed in 2025.
PELLETB practice app
More PELLETB practice questions with explanations, in a study app. Not affiliated with California POST.
It is California POST's entry-level reading and writing test for peace officer candidates: 65–78 multiple-choice questions in four sub-tests (clarity, vocabulary, spelling and reading comprehension), taken on paper. Departments and police academies give it and use the score in hiring.
65–78 multiple-choice items: 45–54 in the three writing sub-tests and 20–24 in reading comprehension. POST publishes a range for each sub-test, not a fixed count. You have 1 h 45 min of testing time.
There isn't a single one. Each hiring agency sets its own pass mark. POST recommends 42+, and several of the departments we list use 42, but some ask for more. Passing scores by agency.
No. It is a paper-and-pencil test, and there is no online version. POST lets only authorized agencies give it, and only inside California. A site that sells an online “official” Pellet B is selling practice. Where to take it.
POST sets no expiry, so the department decides. SFPD wants a T-score of 42 or higher, taken within the last 2 years. SDPD counts only a T-score of 42 in reading, writing and overall, within 6 months of applying. CHP accepts no outside score at all.
In California, yes: “POST test” and “POST reading and writing test” are other names for it. Elsewhere, “POST test” often means the NPOST, a different exam from another publisher. Its four sections are mathematics, reading comprehension, grammar and incident report writing.