The Spring 2025 NPPF Step 2 Sergeant and Inspector legal exam results are now both out! In this ‘Stats Corner’ blog, I outline these results, comparing trends, forces and diversity. In doing these blogs, I also aim to increase your awareness and understanding of stats, graphs and associated analysis, all skills you’ll need as you rise through the ranks to review and manage performance.
The pass rate for the Sergeants’ exam was 56%, an improvement on last year’s Sergeant results. For Inspectors however, only 35% passed, similar to the record low of the previous Inspectors’ exam.
If you’ve passed, your next steps are clear to convert that hard-earned result into promotion. And if you didn’t quite make the mark this time, there’s always learning to be had and nothing stopping you working on your leadership CPD (e.g. by simply listening to podcasts) to ready you for your success next time.
Inspectors’ Exam Remains Tough to Pass…
The most recent results published by the College of Policing are for the NPPF Step 2 Inspectors’ exam, conducted in mid-May by aspiring promotion candidates. The Inspectors’ legal exam has always been tougher than that for Sergeants, not least with the higher benchmark required to pass.
This seems to be proving even tougher as time goes on, with just 581 of the 1,682 achieving the 65% required benchmark to pass. That’s a pass rate of just under 35%. And as shown above, very few candidates score a ‘High Pass’ scoring over 75%, or a ‘Low Fail’ scoring under 35%.
Still, that’s an additional nearly 600 aspiring candidates added to the thousands already in the qualified promotion pool. All are vying to convert their ambition into promotion success, in what will be a far more competitive and tougher process than this legal knowledge test. Whatever promotion process you’ll face, if you’re in the pool and want a competitive advantage with the best, most tried and tested promotion support available, you know where to come!
Inspector Results: Force Comparisons
In their published results, the College breakdown the exam pass rates by force, which as usual I’ve summarised for you below. Now note for some forces, there’s a low volume of candidates completing the exam, so take comparisons against other forces with a pinch of salt. This time, the low volumes are Bedfordshire, BTP, Cumbria, Dorset, Dyfed Powys, Gloucestershire, Gwent, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Warwickshire, and Wiltshire.
Even so, the force comparisons make for interesting reading, and are somewhat different to the last round of Inspector exam results. The usual poor pass rates at the Met Police are the main factor bringing the ‘All Forces’ rate lower than most, given the Met formed a third of all candidates. Officers in Humberside and West Mids also struggled, alongside the poor results (albeit only handful of candidates) amid Leicestershire, Dyfed Powys, BTP and Gloucestershire.
Note that Avon and Somerset are trialling the new SIPP promotion process trials. Despite early SIPP ambitions and designs being to remove the front end barrier of the legal exam, the latest process now being trialled by several forces keeps the legal exam, but with a scaled-back syllabus. The exam takes place at the same time as NPPF, though the College are yet to publish any results from their SIPP exams conducted to date, so no NPPF vs. SIPP comparisons can be made.
In case you hadn’t heard, SIPP is on the cards to replace the current NPPF process within a few years. You can read all about the new SIPP process in my regularly updated and comprehensive SIPP FAQs blog (the most simplified, clear and comprehensive explainer of SIPP you’ll find anywhere).
At the other end of the scale, Warwickshire and Norfolk top the scale, with officers from Cumbria, Dorset, West Mercia, and Bedfordshire also doing well. But what of the longer-term trends? How are forces doing over the longer term? Which do persistently poorly or well?
Here’s the top and bottom eight forces over the past five years of NPPF exams:
What might be causing these persistent differences? Is the different level of support for officers offered by different forces having an impact? What can forces learn from one another? Does your force offer protected learning time, or subsidised Blackstone’s Manuals / intensive support?
Sergeant Results Come in Strong
The NPPF Sergeants’ exam was sat in March by over 3,500 candidates. Nearly 2,000 passed by getting over 55% of the multiple choice answers correct. The overall pass rate was 56%, the highest in the most recent four exams. 11% of candidates (379 people) got an ‘Exceptional’ grading, scoring over 75% on their exam. Was this you? If so, well done, that’s no mean feat!
In terms of how forces compare, Durham, TVP, and Cumbria came out top, with Devon and Cornwall, Lancashire, and Cambridgeshire not far behind. At the other end of the scale, the 1,367 Met Police candidates had the toughest time of it. Gloucestershire, City of London, South Yorkshire, and GMP also scored relatively low.
As with the Inspectors’ exam, NPPF results are not available for Avon and Somerset officers, since they all did the SIPP exam, and no SIPP results have been released by the College, being kept tightly under wraps like the other SIPP info.
Strangely for these Sergeants’ exam results, for the lower candidate volume forces, the College took the unusual step of also withholding the percentages. So for the first time, no results are known for the following forces, hence nothing on the above graph: Dorset, Dyfed Powys, Gwent, Lincolnshire, North Wales, Warwickshire.
Here’s the College’s own rationale for redacting counts of candidates, successful candidates, and pass rates for forces where candidate numbers fall below their undisclosed threshold:
“Please note that where candidate numbers are low, these have been removed to ensure that no candidates can be personally identified from this data. Low figures in terms of pass or fail rates could, when paired with other information in the public domain, result in the identification of individuals. To avoid this, we will not release information where identification could result. We are unable to confirm the threshold used to redact data, as this in itself may allow calculations to be made from other information released in the public domain.” – College of Policing
Despite this lack of info for several forces for the Spring 2025 exam, I’ve compared the top and bottom eight forces regardless. Here’s the results. Again, is your force here? What could be causing these persistent, massive discrepancies and what could be learned from one another?
Diversity: Same as it Ever Was…
Finally, let’s explore the diversity of these exam results. It may not surprise you to learn that for both the Sergeant and Inspector exam results, the same disparities persist:
- Women perform better than men
- ‘White’ candidates perform better than ‘Ethnic Minority’ candidates
- The College do not report comparisons for any other protected characteristics (e.g. as they did for Religion in 2022)
Here’s those trends by year for each exam:
There remains a clear gap between male and female officers in the success rate. But the even bigger gap between White and Minority Ethnic candidates persist. The pass rate for Minority Ethnic candidates on the recent Inspector’s exam hit a new low of just 20%, raising questions over the effectiveness of ongoing Positive Action schemes around the country.
The stated aims of the new SIPP process include reducing such disparities observed in the exam results, so closing the gap between White/Minority Ethnic and Men/Women. However, since no exam results are being published for SIPP, no assessment of whether this objective is being met can be made nor any NPPF vs SIPP comparisons. If you know any info on this, please get in touch.
As a reminder, whether you’re just thinking about promotion or have a board next week, hit the ground running now with the best structured, affordable support that simply works:
“Just a quick email to say passed! Exam to inspector board success in 4 months is not bad. Thank you for all your products. I bought your guides & found them really helpful. I also watched all your YouTube videos, great, particularly the ones on CVF.” – Jo
“Hi Steve, I cannot thank you enough for your help… I’ve worked my socks off the last couple of years. I passed the promotion application & went on to pass the Sergeant board too (coming top in the force in my interview)! I am now promoted.” – Maria
That’s all for this ‘Stats Corner’ piece, I hope you found it helpful. Wherever you are on your promotion journey, I wish you every success for the future.
Kind Regards, Steve
Seeking police promotion? Want a MASSIVE head start right now? Hit the ground running with your personal digital promotion toolkit, and/or my market-leading Police Promotion Masterclass and CVF explainers. 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.