Gaming. It’s everywhere. Now the games have begun in the police promotion arena. The Met Police have made another addition to the suite of assessments in the postcode lottery of promotion: Gamification.
In this quick blog, I share and summarise this brand-new development of the gamification of promotion. It follows hot on the heels of my ground-breaking content about how to prepare for the Met’s new Senior Officer Assessments, and my recent analysis of their 2026 police strength figures.
“You must learn the rules of the game. And then play them better than anyone else.” – Albert Einstein
Listen to the podcast below for all the details and how to prepare for and navigate this unknown territory. You can still subscribe for just £4.99 to access all my premium podcast content and support my work.
Now let the games begin…
A New Game for London
Are police officers who aspire to promotion being selected for future leadership roles based on their ability to play games? The answer is a resounding YES. At least for now, it’s underway in the Metropolitan Police. They are currently gamifying promotion selection processes.
This is a very different approach. Aspiring clients are turning to Rank Success once again to make sense of these shifting sands of promotion (I’m just a free quick phone call away if you need support!).
But to be fair, the Met are certainly trying new things and striving for innovation in how it promotes officers. Key drivers are the Casey Review and other critiques calling for massive shake-ups. ‘A New Met for London’ is the force’s current flagship strategy to become a radically different force and build greater trust with the public. Driving improved culture through leadership and increasing diverse representation are among its key goals.
“Our promotion processes now ensure successful candidates reflect the diversity of those eligible, driving greater representation at senior ranks and a more inclusive leadership culture.” – A New Met for London
I recall Situational Judgement Tests (SJTs) being used some years ago as a gateway sift for officers aspiring to Sergeant and Inspector. It might seem for Met officers the promotion goal posts are being moved regularly.
Is the future of police promotion and selection of future leaders a case of game on or game over? It’s certainly an interesting development.
Cheat Codes and God Mode…
“Life isn’t fair. But it is hackable.” – Tim Denning
Whatever the future holds, there are ways you can effectively prepare. And support is always at hand.
Rank Success was first to provide structured guidance on the new assessment centres for the Met’s senior officers. These assess Chief Inspector to Chief Superintendent ranks including for existing suitability and ongoing progression / promotion as part of a significant review of the organisation’s leadership capacity and capability.
It transpired this was valuable for those who read my blog and subscribed to my more in-depth Promotion and Leadership Podcast. My dedicated podcast episode (Season 6, Episode 3) included tips and guidance to support effective preparation.
Here’s a couple of examples. Thank you to all those who got in touch and fed back to me, it really is why I do what I do!
“Hi Steve, Good you are the first to cover this. Assessor was lovely & said I had done well. I await formal feedback. I must say assessors were very professional & all experienced ex senior leaders from industry. Your preparation plan definitely helped. Thanks again.”
“I just wanted to say thank you. I’ve just come home from the Met’s Development Centre day & honestly, if I hadn’t heard your podcast & that blog, I wouldn’t be as comfortable as I was today, whatever the outcome. You gave me the tools. I went through everything, I listened a couple of times, wrote it down. I went through it. Spot on. An absolute godsend. I just wanted to say thank you.”
Well, if you are an officer facing the gamification of your force’s promotion selection process now or in future, you might be interested to know I’ve just recorded another first. My dedicated podcast episode on the gamifying of promotion assessments for Sergeant and Inspector promotion.
I cover what gamification tests are and some tests the early Met candidates as the guinea pigs for this are currently undergoing. For more, simply subscribe to the podcast which includes solid tips on how to prepare effectively, along with 9 focused questions to support your thinking and reflection ahead of any such assessment.
This is well worth your time wherever you are, as I believe these kind of tests will be rolled out wider in future across UK forces.
What Tests are Being Used in the Gamifying of Promotion?
Many will see this gamification as a very superficial method, not relevant to promotion and leadership. It’s already been received in the Met with mixed reviews to say the least. These are ruthless screening tests which many question the relevance of. What are your views?
In any case, they’re happening now. I outline below two key tests being introduced in these new promotion assessments. Listen in to my premium podcast episode to find out more and how to prepare.
Emotional Images Test
The Emotional Images Test (for Sergeant candidates) is a short, game-like task from Arctic Shores. It’s often called the “Emotions Game” or “Face Game”.
You’ll see quick images of faces showing different expressions. For each one you pick the emotion from a drop-down list of options. For example, happy, sad, angry, surprised, fearful, disgusted or contempt.
It only lasts a few minutes, while some faces are deliberately ambiguous or don’t have a perfect match. It’s about consistent, accurate pattern recognition under time pressure not about getting it ‘right every time.’
In simple terms, it’s measuring your Emotional intelligence. The theory behind it is that policing relies heavily on empathy, de-escalation, spotting distress or aggression and building rapport, so this tests your ability to read subtle emotional cues in others.
Future-Focused Interviews
Future-Focused Interviews (for Inspector candidates) are structured interviews. They shift the focus from the rear-facing behaviour questions (‘Tell me about a time you…’) to forward-facing ones. For example, ‘How would you approach this future scenario?’ or forward-looking probes based on your assessment results.
The critical difference to normal interviews with forward-facing questions is that they use the behavioural data from any preceding gamified screening. This is to generate tailored, role-specific questions for you. It’s all about potential, adaptability, learning agility, and decision-making in hypothetical future policing situations. Arctic Shores often auto-generate these probing questions linked to the job profile.
It’s assessing your potential to grow into the role rather than just what you’ve already done. It tests strategic thinking, resilience, and how you’d apply skills to new or evolving challenges. This is key for Inspectors, who handle more complex leadership, resource decisions and long-term planning.
Both tests are task-based/gamified, meaning there are no right-or-wrong “quiz” answers you can memorise or fake with AI/ChatGPT. They capture thousands of micro-behaviours (clicks, timing, choices) rooted in neuroscience to build a profile of how you naturally think and behave.
Gamified Assessments: Why Bother?
In my dedicated podcast, I cover many pros and cons for candidates and forces. These ruthless ‘screening-out’ tools have attracted much debate so far internally within the force. But there are many reasons these tests seem particularly attractive to the Met Police.
For example, gamified tests are cheaper, quicker and more scalable, allowing forces to assess more candidates in a more standardised way, which is an attractive aspect for a police force. There’s no human judgement involved and every candidate gets the same tasks, so they’re less prone to biases.
On that basis, one assumption is that it will break down barriers other assessments face, particularly for ethnic minority and female officers. These are key protected characteristics for which the Met wants increased representation among its leadership ranks.
And in this age of Artificial Intelligence, these gamified tests reduce faking and AI cheating. You can’t blag it and ‘ChatGPT your way’ through micro-decisions in a game, like application forms have no doubt been prone to.
However, a proper Equality Impact Assessment might show downsides on diversity, for example in relation to neurodiversity or barriers between different age groups. Mitigation for forces comes from using gamification as one part of a broader promotion and leadership selection process.
Those who are inclined to game the system might fall about laughing when they hear the system itself is now a game.
As always, there will be winners and losers in terms of those who ‘get it’ and those who struggle with such tests.
Time to Freestyle in Creative Mode…
“Play is the highest form of research.” – Albert Einstein
Should you wait until your opportunity to try these new tests out? Absolutely not!
Practising now will help build your familiarity before the real thing happens, even if the games aren’t exactly the same. This reduces anxiety and builds confidence. It’s the same concept I advise for interview boards and application forms too:
Practice in advance.
For now, I’d simply direct you to where you can practice the Arctic Shores assessments. They’re no Pac-Man or Pong (or MineCraft or Fortnite for the more modern gamers!). As a former Royal Marine, I’d also signpost you to an old axiom, “time spent in reconnaissance is never wasted”.
Here’s three key focus areas you can expect interview questions on. Be assured, these are critical skills for leaders in the Met under its New Met for London Strategy:
- Performance: How will you improve service to the public, especially communities and/or victims? How will you practically implement our main priorities?
- Wellbeing: How would you support [wellbeing scenario], and are you truly acting as a ‘servant leader’? What will you do to address concerns raised by your team or via the Met’s Staff Survey?
- Development: What will you do to develop yourself and others in the next 12 months? How will you contribute to a more positive culture?
Being able to balance all three is the more sophisticated aspect you will need to demonstrate as you progress through the ranks.
And a note to officers who reside outside the Met: These are also common themes across most other forces around the country.
Ready to Play?
I hope you have found this content helpful. As a reminder, I cover more in the podcast on how to prepare, including a 5-point action plan and 9 bespoke questions to consider ahead of time.
Passed your legal exam? Serious about preparing effectively for promotion in policing? Then as a promotion coach and leadership mentor with a solid track record of success over the last decade plus, I’d encourage you not to simply gamify your approach, but to prepare holistically ahead of any promotion opportunity.
Whatever your force, my regularly updated digital promotion toolkits are tried, tested and proven. With rank-specific options, both PC to Sergeant and Sergeant to Inspector and Chief Inspector (two ranks for one price!), these resources provide you with the most effective and holistic preparation.
And did you know, I offer a free, no-strings 30-minute coaching session? Need a supportive conversation? Just get in touch.
Wherever you are on your leadership development journey, I wish you all the best.
Kind Regards, Steve
Seeking police promotion? Want a MASSIVE head start right now and a focus on what matters? Hit the ground running with my great value digital promotion toolkits, and/or my market-leading Police Promotion Masterclass and CVF explainers. There’s nothing else like it to effectively prepare you for success and level the playing field of promotion. Any questions? Get in touch for a free call or to arrange more personal coaching support. Tune in to my extensive podcast for regular powerful leadership CPD and promotion insights.
