PELLET B Test: Sections, T-Scores and Practice Questions

If you are applying to become a police officer, deputy sheriff or other peace officer in California, the written test you are most likely to sit is the PELLET B, short for POST Entry-Level Law Enforcement Test Battery. It is developed and maintained by the California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST), and agencies and basic police academies across the state use it to check whether applicants can read and write well enough for the job.

That last point matters more than candidates expect. Officers write reports that prosecutors, defense attorneys and judges read closely. A report with misspellings, vague wording or confused sequences of events can damage a case. The PELLET B is built around exactly those skills.

This page explains what the test contains, how the T-score works, what agencies ask for, and how to prepare. The practice questions are our own, written in the style of each sub-test; they are not real POST items.

Who uses the PELLET B

POST is the state body that sets selection and training standards for California peace officers. The PELLET B is its written test for entry-level law enforcement applicants. You usually take it in one of two ways:

  • Through a hiring agency. City police departments, sheriff's offices and the California Highway Patrol (CHP) run test sessions for their own applicants. CHP, for example, describes its written exam as the PELLET B and says it tests reading comprehension and writing ability. A passing score moves CHP applicants on to the background investigation.
  • Through an academy or testing center. Regional academies and some community colleges test people who want to enter a basic academy on their own, before they are hired. They then share or report the score to agencies.

Some agencies accept an alternative written test. The City of Long Beach, for instance, accepts either the PELLET B or the FrontLine National exam. Always check which test your agency wants before you book.

Dispatchers take a different POST test, the Entry-Level Dispatcher Selection Test Battery. Do not confuse the two.

What the PELLET B measures: the sub-tests

The PELLET B measures reading and writing ability. Until the end of 2024 it had five sub-tests. POST removed the CLOZE sub-test for administrations from January 1, 2025, and says the change cuts test time by about 30 minutes. That leaves four:

Spelling

You see a sentence with a word missing and choose the correctly spelled version of that word from several options. The words are the kind you would use in a report: everyday vocabulary, but with the traps that catch people, such as double letters, silent letters and words that sound alike.

Vocabulary

You read a sentence with one word underlined and choose the option closest in meaning. Again, the words are taken from ordinary but educated written English rather than legal jargon.

Clarity

You compare two versions of a sentence and choose the one that is written more clearly. The unclear version usually has a misplaced modifier, an unclear pronoun, a run-on or a sentence fragment. This is the sub-test that most closely mirrors report writing.

Reading comprehension

You read short passages and answer multiple-choice questions about them. Questions test whether you can find stated facts, follow a sequence, and draw a conclusion the passage supports without adding outside knowledge.

The removed CLOZE sub-test

The CLOZE was a passage with words deleted, where you filled in each gap using the context and a dash-per-letter clue. If you find an older study guide that spends half its pages on CLOZE, it is out of date. Some agency pages still list five sections, so treat POST as the authority on the current content.

POST does not publish an item count or time limit that we can confirm for the current version, and agencies explain timing on test day. Allow extra time for check-in and instructions, and follow whatever your invitation says about timing.

How the T-score works

Your raw scores are converted into a single T-score. A T-score is a standardized scale where 50 is the average of the reference group and every 10 points is one standard deviation. Roughly speaking:

  • A T-score of 40 is one standard deviation below average.
  • A T-score of 50 is average.
  • A T-score of 60 is one standard deviation above average.

So a T-score is not a percentage. Getting 50 does not mean you answered half the items correctly; it means you scored around the middle of the comparison group.

Passing scores are set by agencies

POST does not require every agency to use the same passing score. Each agency or academy decides its own cutoff. Long Beach Police, for example, lists a minimum T-score of 45. POST's own research guidance notes that the likelihood of completing the academy rises with every point above a T-score of 42, but the only number that counts is the one in your agency's posting.

Some agencies also rank candidates by T-score, so passing is not always enough. A higher score can move you up a hiring list.

Retakes and score validity

POST requires you to wait 30 calendar days before taking the PELLET B again, and its applicant FAQs say a retest inside that window is invalidated, even if it was taken with a different agency. CHP repeats this rule on its own page.

POST itself does not put an expiry date on scores, but agencies can. Long Beach says a passing score is valid there for up to one year. CHP requires its own applicants to take the CHP written exam and does not accept passing scores from other agencies.

For a wider view of written tests across police departments, see our guide to aptitude tests for police recruitment.

PELLET B practice questions

These items are our own, written in the style of each sub-test.

Practice question 1

Spelling. Choose the correct spelling for the missing word.

The officer noted that the suspect's statement was ______ with the witness account.

A. consistant B. consistent C. consisstent D. consistint

Answer: B. "Consistent" ends in -ent. The -ant ending is a very common error because both endings sound the same when spoken.

Practice question 2

Spelling. Choose the correct spelling for the missing word.

The victim was ______ by a neighbor who saw the vehicle leave.

A. accompanied B. acompanied C. accompanyed D. acompanyed

Answer: A. "Accompany" has a double c, and when you add -ed to a word ending in consonant + y, the y becomes i.

Practice question 3

Vocabulary. Choose the word closest in meaning to the underlined word.

The witness was reluctant to give her address.

A. eager B. unable C. unwilling D. forbidden

Answer: C. Reluctant means hesitant or unwilling. B suggests she could not give it, and D suggests a rule prevented her; neither is what the word means.

Practice question 4

Vocabulary. Choose the word closest in meaning to the underlined word.

The two accounts of the incident were contradictory.

A. detailed B. inconsistent C. identical D. lengthy

Answer: B. Contradictory means the accounts conflict with each other. C is the opposite.

Practice question 5

Clarity. Which sentence is more clearly written?

A. Running from the store, the officer saw the suspect drop a bag. B. The officer saw the suspect drop a bag while the suspect was running from the store.

Answer: B. In A, the opening phrase "Running from the store" attaches to "the officer", so the sentence says the officer was running. B makes clear who was running.

Practice question 6

Clarity. Which sentence is more clearly written?

A. Martinez told Ramirez that his car had been towed. B. Martinez told Ramirez that Ramirez's car had been towed.

Answer: B. In A, "his" could refer to either man. In a report, an unclear pronoun can make it impossible to know who owned the car.

Practice question 7

Reading comprehension. Read the passage and answer the question.

"Officers arrived at 2140 hours. The caller, a store clerk, said a man had taken two phone chargers and left on foot heading north. A second witness said the man got into a gray sedan parked on the next block. Officers did not locate the man."

Which statement is supported by the passage?

A. The man stole a phone. B. The man left in a gray sedan. C. Officers arrested the man at 2140 hours. D. One witness reported the man got into a vehicle.

Answer: D. The passage says a second witness reported the man getting into a gray sedan. B states this as fact, but only one witness said it, so the passage does not establish it. A gets the item wrong, and C contradicts the last sentence.

Practice question 8

CLOZE style (no longer in the PELLET B, but still useful reading practice). Each dash stands for one letter.

"The officer asked the driver for his license. The driver searched his wallet but could not f _ _ _ it."

A. find B. fold C. fill D. feel

Answer: A. Four letters are needed, and the context (he searched his wallet and could not ___ it) points clearly to "find". The value of this exercise is that it trains you to read for meaning, which also helps on reading comprehension items.

Common mistakes on the PELLET B

  • Studying the wrong test. Old guides include CLOZE and sometimes outdated item types. Use the current POST description.
  • Reading too fast in reading comprehension. Most wrong answers add a small fact the passage does not state, as in question 7 above.
  • Trusting how a word looks. If you only ever see words autocorrected, your spelling eye is weaker than you think. Practice on paper.
  • Ignoring pronouns and modifiers. Clarity items almost always turn on who did what. Ask yourself, for each sentence, "could a defense attorney read this two ways?"
  • Not checking your agency's cutoff. Candidates sometimes celebrate a pass only to learn the department they want asks for a higher score.

A two-week PELLET B preparation plan

1. Days 1 and 2: take a baseline

Do a timed practice set covering all four sub-tests. Mark it and note which sub-test cost you the most points. POST publishes an applicant preparation guide, and CHP links to it and to its own preparation resources; use the official material as your reference for format.

2. Days 3 to 6: spelling and vocabulary

Build a list of commonly misspelled words (receive, separate, occurred, accommodate, harass, privilege, necessary, definitely) and test yourself on paper each day. For vocabulary, read a quality newspaper and look up every word you could not define precisely. Ten minutes a day is enough if you are consistent.

3. Days 7 to 10: clarity

Learn the four usual faults: misplaced or dangling modifiers, unclear pronouns, run-on sentences and fragments. Then rewrite short paragraphs from news articles as if they were police reports, keeping each sentence clear about who did what and when.

4. Days 11 to 13: reading comprehension

Practice short factual passages and force yourself to point to the line that proves each answer. Our guide to reading comprehension tests has more techniques, and our verbal reasoning practice questions are good extra material.

5. Day 14: full mock and rest

Take a final full practice set under timed conditions, review errors, then stop. Sleep matters more than one more hour of cramming.

On test day

Bring a valid photo ID and whatever your invitation lists. Arrive early, because late arrivals are often turned away. Listen carefully to the instructions for each section, because the proctor will tell you how timing works. If you are unsure about a spelling item, sound the word out in syllables; many errors happen when people pick the option that merely looks familiar.

After the written test comes the rest of the process, usually a physical ability test, an oral board, a background investigation, and medical and psychological evaluations. Our guides to police oral board interview questions and the police psychological exam cover those later steps.

To practice reading and writing tests under time pressure, try the verbal reasoning test on our main site.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a passing score on the PELLET B?

There is no single statewide pass mark. POST leaves the cutoff to each hiring agency or academy, so the required T-score differs. Long Beach Police, for example, lists a minimum T-score of 45. Check the job posting for your agency.

Is the CLOZE test still part of the PELLET B?

No. POST removed the CLOZE reading sub-test from the PELLET B for administrations from January 1, 2025. The current test has four sub-tests: spelling, vocabulary, clarity and reading comprehension. Some agency pages have not been updated yet.

How soon can I retake the PELLET B?

POST requires a wait of 30 calendar days between attempts, and this applies even if you test with a different agency. A retest inside that window can invalidate your result. The California Highway Patrol applies the same 30-day rule.

Can I use my PELLET B score for more than one agency?

Often, yes. Many agencies accept a T-score from another department or academy, but some do not. The California Highway Patrol, for example, says passing scores from other agencies will not be accepted. Agencies can also set their own limit on how old a score may be.

What does a T-score of 50 mean?

A T-score is a standardized scale on which 50 sits at the average of the reference group and each 10 points is one standard deviation. A score of 50 means you performed around the middle of that group, not that you answered half the questions correctly.

About the author

Ingmar van Maurik is a specialist in test and interview preparation who helps candidates perform better in recruitment processes.

References