Checked 21 October 2026. Dates are for the March 2027 sitting, read 21 Oct 2026. The plan is our suggestion, not College guidance; your force's registration date may be earlier than the national one.
The sergeants' legal exam is hard in a specific way. It is a lot of law, tested by application questions, under time pressure. This guide shows what the College of Policing's own figures say about difficulty, then gives a 16-week plan from Monday 23 November 2026 to the March 2027 sitting. ProSyllabus is an independent study site, not part of the College of Policing or any police force.
How hard is it? The College's numbers
March 2026 results overview and subject area breakdown; 2027 candidate handbook.
Four things make it hard. Volume: the syllabus is three manuals, and the handbook says "candidates may be asked questions that relate to any part of the syllabus." Application: the College describes the questions as "multiple-choice application questions" and says the exam "is not aimed at testing pure factual recall". Accuracy: questions are written by trained question writers and checked for legal accuracy by the College's legal services unit and by independent legal experts. Pace: 72 seconds on average to read about 164 words and choose.
Time to prepare is itself a barrier. In its review of promotion, the College heard from officers that "good potential candidates are put off by the time and resources needed to prepare for the exam."
What the College gives you to prepare
Official preparation, all from the handbook and candidate guide
- The 2027 Blackstone's Police Manuals: the only official resource the College endorses. A 30% discount on the NPPF manuals is available to all police officers and staff in England and Wales; the handbook links to the discount code on College Learn (log-in needed).
- The Candidate Online Examination Guidance group on Knowledge Hub (log-in needed): practice questions, exam tips, a learning style and revision technique guide and more.
- A familiarisation exercise on the exam platform, emailed about a week before your exam; it can be opened only once.
The handbook adds: "Other products, including the Blackstone's Q&As, are not affiliated with the College of Policing." Its candidate guide says companies' revision materials and practice questions "may differ in terms of content and difficulty level to the exam itself."
The three manuals at a glance
| Manual | Chapters | Questions on the March 2026 paper |
|---|---|---|
| Volume 1: Crime 2027 | 17 | 66 of 150 |
| Volume 2: Evidence and Procedure 2027 | 8 | 34 of 150 |
| Volume 3: General Police Duties 2027 | 22 | 50 of 150 |
The question counts are from one past paper, and the College says the breakdown should not be used to work out what will be tested in future. They still show something useful: Evidence and Procedure has the fewest chapters, 8 of 47 (17%), yet it drew 34 of the 150 questions (23%), and its chapters 2.6 to 2.8 are the PACE Codes C, D, E and F.
A 16-week plan to 16 March 2027
This plan is our suggestion, not College guidance. It follows the order of the manuals and splits 14 reading weeks close to each volume's share of the 47 chapters (17 crime, 8 evidence and procedure, 22 general police duties): 5 weeks, 3 weeks and 6 weeks, rounding Evidence and Procedure up because, where the manual's text refers to a paragraph of a PACE Code, you are expected to know that provision. The last two weeks are timed practice. If you start later, keep the order and shorten each block evenly.
| Weeks | Focus | Checkpoint |
|---|---|---|
| 1-2 (from Mon 23 Nov 2026) | Crime, chapters 1.1-1.7 | Ask your force examinations officer for your force's registration closing date |
| 3-5 (to Sun 27 Dec) | Crime, chapters 1.8-1.17 | Write your own scenario questions on each chapter you finish |
| 6-8 (to Sun 17 Jan 2027) | Evidence and Procedure, chapters 2.1-2.8, including PACE Codes C, D, E and F | Step One eligibility form signed by your line manager |
| 9-10 (from Mon 18 Jan) | General Police Duties, chapters 3.1-3.8 | Registration opens Mon 18 Jan 2027: register in the first week |
| 11-12 | General Police Duties, chapters 3.9-3.15 | Check your force has verified you and assigned you to the exam |
| 13-14 | General Police Duties, chapters 3.16-3.22 (3.19-3.22 are road policing) | National registration closes 6pm Thu 18 Feb 2027 |
| 15-16 (to Sun 14 Mar) | Timed mixed practice at 72 seconds a question; reread the chapters you miss | Familiarisation exercise when its link arrives, about a week before; exam on one day, Tue 16 to Thu 18 Mar 2027 |
If you are resitting after a fail, change the order rather than the length. Open your feedback report, which is broken down into subject areas, and move your weakest area to the front of the plan while it still has the most weeks around it. Keep the final fortnight of timed mixed practice either way: a resit is the same 150 questions in three hours.
Three habits matter more than the timetable. Read the chapter, then test yourself on scenarios rather than rereading. Keep a list of the exact words that decide outcomes: an element, an exception, a time limit. And practise at exam pace well before March: at 72 seconds a question there is no time to reason from first principles about a definition you half know.
Mistakes the rules punish, not the questions
Some candidates lose a sitting before they answer a question. Each of these comes straight from the handbook:
Avoid these
- Missing your force's registration date. It can be earlier than 18 February, and heavy workload or not knowing the dates are not accepted as exceptional circumstances.
- Sitting before you are substantive in the rank of constable. The result is voided.
- Sitting while signed off sick, or on limited duties through illness or injury, without a certificate of fitness from your force medical examiner (or equivalent), submitted at registration.
- Registering twice on AIMS, which creates duplicate entries, or entering your date of birth, national insurance number or email address wrongly, which delays access to your result.
- Registering and then not sitting. A withdrawn candidate is not re-entered automatically, forces are charged for everyone still registered two weeks before the exam and for absent candidates, and forces may apply their own penalties for absence.
- Talking about the questions afterwards, including topic areas on social media. That is a rule breach.
Try one question
This original question, from chapter 1.15 (Theft and Related Offences), turns on one definition in section 10 of the Theft Act 1968.
Free question · Theft and related offences: aggravated burglary
A man commits a burglary. Which of these articles, if he has it with him at the time, makes the burglary aggravated under section 10(1) of the Theft Act 1968 from the statutory definition alone, without any need to prove what he intended to do with it?
- A replica pistol that cannot be fired, but looks like a real one.
- An ordinary, unaltered screwdriver he brought only to force open a window.
- An ordinary can of spray paint he brought only to write on a wall.
- An ordinary pair of gloves he brought only to avoid leaving fingerprints.
Show the answer and the statute
Answer: A. Section 10(1)(a) defines "imitation firearm" as "anything which has the appearance of being a firearm, whether capable of being discharged or not", and an imitation firearm is one of the articles listed in section 10(1). Nothing about his intention needs proving. The ordinary screwdriver (B) is not made or adapted for use for causing injury to or incapacitating a person, and he did not intend it for that use, so it is not a "weapon of offence" under section 10(1)(b). The ordinary spray paint (C) and gloves (D) are not firearms or imitation firearms, are not made, adapted or intended for injuring or incapacitating anyone, and are not manufactured or intended to produce a practical effect by explosion, so they fall into none of the listed categories.
An original ProSyllabus question written from section 10 of the Theft Act 1968 on legislation.gov.uk. It is not a College of Policing question.
The format, dates and registration steps are in our dates and format guide, and what each chapter covers is in our syllabus guide.
Frequently asked questions
How hard is the NPPF sergeants' exam?
In March 2026, 41.5% of the 3,215 candidates did not pass. The paper is 150 multiple-choice application questions in three hours, drawn from any part of three Blackstone's manuals.
How long should I study for the NPPF sergeants' exam?
Our plan uses 16 weeks, from 23 November 2026 to the 16 March 2027 sitting, working through the three manuals in order with a final fortnight of timed practice.
Are there official NPPF practice questions?
Yes, a small sample on the College's Candidate Online Examination Guidance group on Knowledge Hub, which needs a log-in. The College says it can only provide a small sample because many of its exam questions are used multiple times.
Does the College recommend any revision guides?
It endorses only the Blackstone's Police Manuals for the exams. It says other products, including the Blackstone's Q&As, are not affiliated with it.
When do I register for the March 2027 sergeants' exam?
Registration opens on Monday 18 January 2027 and closes nationally at 6pm on Thursday 18 February 2027. Your force may close earlier, so ask your force examinations officer.
Is there a discount on Blackstone's Police Manuals?
The handbook says a 30% discount on the NPPF manuals is available to all police officers and staff in England and Wales, and links to the discount code on College Learn (log-in needed).
How long do I have for each question?
Three hours for 150 questions is 72 seconds a question on average. A comfort break is taken with the clock running, unless an agreed reasonable adjustment allows scheduled breaks.
Sources
- official — College of Policing: NPPF sergeants' step-two legal examination, March 2026, results and analysis overview (April 2026)
- official — College of Policing: NPPF sergeants' step-two legal examination, subject area breakdown, March 2026
- official — College of Policing: "NPPF step two legal examinations candidate handbook" (2027 rules, updated 10 Sep 2026; read 21 Oct 2026): dates, eligibility, registration, structure, syllabus rules, pass mark, results, validity, appeals
- official — College of Policing: online examinations candidate guide (read 21 Oct 2026): the exam platform, navigation, flagging, timing
- official — College of Policing: "Testing new process for promotion and progression for sergeants and inspectors" (SIPP test phase)
- official — legislation.gov.uk: Theft Act 1968, section 10 (Aggravated burglary)
official = a document published by the conducting body. reported = a news or coaching site we could not check against an original. Where sources disagree this page says so rather than picking one.
