NPPF Step 2

Overview

The National Police Promotion Framework (NPPF) is the route to promotion to sergeant and inspector in police forces in England and Wales. It has four steps: step one is competence in the current rank, step two is a legal knowledge examination, step three is assessment against rank-specific competencies and matching to vacancies, and step four is temporary promotion with work-based assessment. Step two is the examination run by the College of Policing, and this page covers it. The facts below come from the College of Policing's 2025 candidate handbook, so check the current handbook for later years.

Who can apply

To enter step two you must meet the step one criteria: competence in your current rank shown through your professional development review or equivalent, no live written improvement notice and no reduction in rank in the previous 12 months, no live written, final written or extended final written warning, and compliance with the attendance management policy. In addition:

• Sergeant exam: regular constables who by the exam date have completed two years' service and their probation, and have not already passed a recognised police promotion exam such as OSPRE parts I and II.

• Inspector exam: only serving sergeants. OSPRE-qualified sergeants can sit from day one of their sergeant posting. Sergeants qualified through the NPPF must have been made substantive in the rank first. All must complete at least two years as a substantive sergeant before substantive promotion.

Taking the exam when ineligible voids the result, with no right of appeal.

Exam pattern

Both exams are a single three-hour, online examination with 150 multiple-choice questions on three areas: crime, evidence and procedure, and general police duties. The 2025 handbook says questions are drawn only from the 2025 edition of the Blackstone's Police Manuals, the one resource the College endorses, and a candidate is examined on law and procedure as it appears there.

Marking and results

The 2025 pass mark was 55% (77 correct answers out of 140) for the sergeants' exam and 65% (91 out of 140) for the inspectors' exam. Candidates scoring 75% or more (sergeant) or 85% or more (inspector) receive an exceptional grade. The College can alter the pass mark in exceptional circumstances. A debrief panel ratifies results before release. Results and individual feedback reports are available to candidates through the AIMS system within three weeks of the exam, and no certificates are issued. A pass is valid for five years less one day from the date of the exam.

Important dates

The 2025 handbook lists four sittings, each over three days between 8am and 8pm:

Forces may set earlier registration deadlines. There is no national limit on resits; any limit is a local force decision.

How to apply

Candidates register on the College's AIMS online system using details from their force examinations officer. The force then verifies eligibility and allocates the candidate to the exam, based on a step one eligibility form signed by the line manager. Enquiries should go to the force examinations officer first.

Preparation tips

Work through the endorsed Blackstone's Police Manuals for the relevant year and the practice questions the College points to, since questions come only from those manuals.