The results are in for the October 2024 Sergeant’s NPPF Step 2 legal exam.
3,842 police officers threw their hat into the ring and studied hard to attempt the 55% pass mark. Just under half succeeded, with a pass rate of 48%. That means there’s an extra 1,831 added to the intense competition for the next step in promotion to Sergeant.
This is another ‘stats corner’ blog, in which I summarise the findings, answering the following questions about these NPPF Sergeant’s legal exam results:
- How do the forces compare and who’s top this year?
- Have exam pass rates improved since Covid?
- Are female officers still outperforming males?
- Which forces persistently do better or worse?
- Is positive action support for minority ethnic officers proving effective?
- How many candidates are the Met Police putting forward?
- What proportion of underrepresented groups are going for promotion?
- I’ve passed / failed: What next?
Passed your exam? Want promotion to Sergeant? Want to cut to the chase? Whatever process you face, CVF or tailored force values, forward-facing questions, presentations, application forms… here’s WHAT WORKS in helping you understand the process and become a better leader. Feel free to call me if you have any questions on 07581 299532, I’m generally available, easy going and happy to chat. I might even have a promotional discount code running and able to share, so you know you’ll get the best deal!
Pass or Fail, the Road is Long…
“A bend in the road is not the end of the road… unless you fail to make the turn.” – Helen Keller
Congratulations if you’re one of the 1,831 constables who now hold the legal exam pass under your belt. This is your 5-year golden ticket to join the other thousands of candidates who have also passed the exam in recent years, and attempt the most challenging part of the national police promotion framework (NPPF): Step 3. That’s the competitive in-force process.
Whether you’re seeking a leadership position via the Fast Track route or via the ‘regular’ route, certainly celebrate this well-earned success. But do not underestimate the challenges ahead. No doubt this feels like climbing a mountain after all the intensive study of law and procedure; yet there’s an even bigger peak to face ahead.
Firstly, there’s a postcode lottery of assessment processes you must contend with, when your force announce a process. Secondly, there’s intense competition with available positions oversubscribed for, as candidates often outnumber available Sergeant positions in forces by 5 to 1. In other words, it’s an employer’s market. Forces can choose who they see as the best available candidates for the limited jobs going.
Fear not however! Help is at hand to level the playing field for great cops and give you the competitive edge. My comprehensive ‘everything bundle’ Sergeant’s promotion toolkit and masterclass will help you compile your evidence, understand the CVF and your leadership, know the role, and much more. In short, helping you showcase why you are the best available candidate for promotion.
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Invest a few £hundred in yourself and future career today. The immediate payback for the extra £15,000 salary and pension in the new Sergeant rank is a no-brainer.
“If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it again?” – John Wooden
And if didn’t pass this time? Commiserations, but recognise there’s always learning in failure. And now that the College offer two exams per year, you can put your hard work to the test again soon enough in March 2025. Promotion and career progression is a marathon not a sprint. In the meantime, you can develop yourself as a leader by listening to meaningful podcasts, reading blogs (like this!), and recognising the evidence of your leadership behaviours against the CVF competencies.
Do this longer-term, gradual CPD and you’ll be ahead of most other officers WHEN you pass your Sergeant’s exam. And despite talk of SIPP on the horizon (with only a few details still published by the College), the exam is still going to be necessary for the foreseeable future. Indeed, candidates in the few SIPP trial forces currently do a similar exam alongside NPPF Step 2 candidates.
Now let’s dive into the latest exam results…
October 2024 Sergeant’s Exam Headline Results
Nearly 4,000 candidates entered the Autumn 2024 Sergeant’s exam last month. This follows over 4,000 who did the Spring legal exam (detailed results here). 48% of candidates achieved the pass mark, with 9% attaining a ‘High Pass’ (75% correct). The pass rate is similar to the early 2024 and late 2023 exams, but slightly down on those before.
How does this compare over the longer term? Since 2011, over 38,000 officers have achieved success in the Sergeant’s exam. Across England and Wales forces in that time, an average of just 1,500 PCs per year get promoted to Sergeant, according to the police workforce stats. That means nearly 3x more officers are being added to the competitive promotion pool each year than there are available promotions, intensifying the competition.
As the above chart demonstrates, the recent decline in pass rates continues a trend since the 2020 peak during Covid. The pass rate however is still higher than the 40% norm observed between 2011-2019. Since 2020, the annual numbers of successful candidates have been around double the levels prior. Certainly for 2023 and 2024, a large factor will be the introduction of two exams per year.
Forces Vary Wildly…
As usual, there’s great variation between different forces in the latest Sergeant’s legal exam results. Dorset Police topped the pile with over 90%, albeit based on relatively lower numbers. Officers in South Wales, Staffordshire, West Mercia, and Devon and Cornwall also performed better than most.
At the other end of the scale, only 28% of the 1,500 Metropolitan Police candidates passed the October exam. While the Met often reside at the bottom of the pass rate force comparisons, the success rates since 2021 have plummeted here by almost half. Humberside, Norfolk, Nottinghamshire, British Transport Police, Northumbria, and City of London are other police forces who had relatively low pass rates in the latest exam.
When looking over a slightly longer term of the last 6 Sergeant exams, some forces persistently perform better than others. The above table displays the Top 8 and Bottom 8 forces based on their average Sergeant exam success rates between 2021-2024. These vast disparities suggest differences in the support provided to officers between these forces; whether that’s in the provision of study time, subsidised Blackstone’s manuals, or other supportive schemes in operation.
The proposed NPPF replacement called ‘SIPP’ aims to remove barriers people face to promotion, with the College of Policing explicitly mentioning the exam as part of the SIPP rationale. Interestingly, Lincolnshire are the only current named force from the above top/bottom list who are formally trialling the SIPP scheme.
Equality of Opportunity?
The College compare disparities for two of the nine protected characteristics in their published exam results data. Those characteristics are Race (indicated by broad ‘white’ and ‘minority ethnic’ ethnicity categories) and Sex (male or female). The don’t provide information about other protected characteristics, such as Religion/Belief, Disability or Sexual Orientation.
Here’s how the broad Sex and Race groups compare in each exam since 2021…
I’ve been sharing police promotion exam results since the 2020 Sergeant’s exam. Since then, the following events have occurred:
- Force support for candidates on the exam has generally increased.
- Overall pass rates have generally declined.
- Force positive action support for underrepresented groups has drastically increased, especially for minority ethnic officers.
- Exam pass rates among minority ethnic candidates has declined, and at the fastest rate.
- The gap in disparity between male / female and minority ethnic / white officer groups has grown.
What are your thoughts on this? Have the exams got more difficult? What can forces do better? How effective is the exam support given to aspiring officers?
In terms of aspiration and success levels, females now represent 38% of all constables. However, only 30% of the Sergeant’s promotion exam candidates were female. That means representation through the ranks will struggle, as there’s an ‘aspiration gap’ of 8% here.
This gap is reduced somewhat given female officers have a higher success rate, so that they represent 36% of the officers who passed the exam. Will this translate into success at the next stage of the promotion process? I’m hoping to contribute positively here, with extensive and bespoke support for female officers seeking promotion.
On ethnicity, minority ethnic officers account for 9% of those in the rank of Constable. The proportion of promotion candidates going for the Sergeant’s exam who were minority ethnic was 12%, so the ‘aspiration rate’ is high among this group.
However, given the relatively poor exam results, minority ethnic candidates end up forming just 7% of successful candidates. This isn’t going to change the underrepresented profile of the leadership ranks anytime soon, given currently 7% of all Sergeants (and fewer in more senior ranks) are from ethnic minority groups.
The next police promotion exams are the Autumn 2024 Inspector’s exam. These take place on 11-13 November. If you’re an aspiring Sergeant taking that exam, I wish you luck. I’ll be providing a similar ‘stats corner’ assessment when the results are out in December.
Kind Regards, Steve
Seeking police promotion? Want to get a massive head start right now? Hit the ground running with your personal digital promotion toolkit, and/or my market-leading Police Promotion Masterclass. There’s nothing else like it to effectively prepare you for success in your leadership aspirations. You can also contact me to arrange more personal coaching support. Or try my podcast for your ongoing police leadership CPD covering a range of fascinating subjects.