- The Philadelphia Police Exam has exactly 2 domains: Vocabulary and Reading Comprehension.
- Vocabulary is 80 questions in 15 minutes; Reading Comprehension is 38 questions in 20 minutes.
- Total testing time is 35 minutes across 118 questions, though the full session runs 35 to 45 minutes.
- Reading Comprehension spans 7 to 9 passages, so pacing matters more than raw speed.
Overview: What the Philadelphia Police Exam Actually Tests
The Philadelphia Police Exam is the written assessment used by the City of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Police Department to screen Police Officer Recruit applicants before they move into physical testing and the rest of the hiring process. Rather than testing law, criminal procedure, or scenario judgment, it uses the Nelson-Denny Reading Test to confirm that a candidate meets Pennsylvania MPOETC's police-recruit reading standard. That single design choice explains why this guide only covers two content areas instead of the five or six you might expect from other public-safety exams.
Because the exam is built around reading skill rather than police knowledge, the "content areas" are really cognitive skill domains: recognizing word meanings quickly and pulling accurate information out of unfamiliar text under a countdown clock. If you're just getting oriented to the process, our What Is Philadelphia Police Exam? overview and the Philadelphia Police Exam Requirements page are good starting points before you dive into domain-level prep.
Domain 1: Vocabulary
Domain 1: Vocabulary
This section presents a word followed by five possible definitions, and you choose the one that matches. It rewards breadth of vocabulary and speed, since you're working through a large volume of items in a short window.
- 80 multiple-choice questions total
- 15 minutes to complete the section
- Each item has five answer choices, not four - read all five before locking in an answer
- Roughly 11 seconds per question on average, so hesitation on hard items compounds quickly
With 80 questions in 15 minutes, Vocabulary is the fastest-paced section of the entire Philadelphia Police Exam. There's no time to sound out a word slowly or debate between two close definitions for more than a few seconds. Candidates who do well here tend to have built vocabulary recognition over months, not crammed it the week before. If a word looks unfamiliar, the fastest strategy is usually to eliminate the definitions that are obviously wrong among the five choices, then make an educated guess and move on rather than losing time on a single item.
Because this section is pure recognition speed, it's one of the easiest domains to practice against realistic timing using structured drills - see our Philadelphia Police Exam Study Guide for pacing drills built specifically around the 80-question, 15-minute format, and try full-length timed sets on the main practice test platform to build speed under real time pressure.
Key Takeaway
Treat Vocabulary as a speed test, not a knowledge test. Practice moving through five-option items quickly rather than trying to memorize word lists at the last minute.
Domain 2: Reading Comprehension
Domain 2: Reading Comprehension
This section presents 7 to 9 passages, each followed by multiple-choice questions that test whether you accurately understood what you read - not whether you already know the topic.
- 38 multiple-choice questions total
- 20 minutes to complete the section
- 7 to 9 separate passages, meaning you'll shift topics repeatedly during the section
- Questions test literal recall, main idea identification, and inference from the passage text
Reading Comprehension is a different challenge than Vocabulary. Instead of pure speed on isolated items, you're managing attention across 7 to 9 distinct passages in 20 minutes - meaning each passage and its questions need to be handled in roughly two to three minutes. The passages cover general-interest topics, not policing content, so no amount of criminal-justice knowledge will help you here. What matters is disciplined reading: identifying the main point of a passage, tracking supporting details, and resisting the urge to answer from memory or assumption instead of from the actual text.
A common mistake candidates make is reading passages too slowly and running out of time before reaching the final one or two passages. Because the section is scored on total correct answers, an unanswered passage at the end costs more than a slightly rushed read at the start. Practicing passage-by-passage pacing - and knowing when to skim versus read closely - is one of the highest-value skills you can build before test day.
Timing, Format, and What to Expect on Test Day
Put together, the two domains add up to 118 total questions and 35 minutes of timed testing. The Police Department notes that the full administration - including instructions, distributing materials, and transitions between sections - typically takes about 35 to 45 minutes in practice, even though the timed portions themselves total 35 minutes.
| Section | Questions | Time Limit | Format |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vocabulary | 80 | 15 minutes | Word + 5 possible definitions |
| Reading Comprehension | 38 | 20 minutes | 7-9 passages with follow-up questions |
| Total | 118 | 35 minutes | Full test administration runs about 35-45 minutes |
Notice that Vocabulary carries more than double the question count of Reading Comprehension but less time overall - a strong signal of how each section is meant to be approached. Vocabulary rewards fast, confident recognition; Reading Comprehension rewards careful, text-based reasoning at a slower pace per question. Mixing up these two paces - rushing through passages the way you'd rush through vocabulary items - is one of the most common reasons candidates underperform relative to their actual reading ability. For a deeper breakdown of why the format catches people off guard, see How Hard Is the Philadelphia Police Exam Exam?.
Scoring Standard and Attempts
The exam doesn't ask you to hit an arbitrary raw score for its own sake - it exists to confirm you read at no less than the ninth-grade level, the standard set by Pennsylvania MPOETC for police recruits. That framing matters: your goal across both domains is to demonstrate consistent, accurate reading performance rather than to chase a perfect score on either section individually.
Applicants get two attempts to meet that standard before they must reapply to the process entirely. That's a meaningful detail for planning your preparation - if you're not confident heading into your first sitting, it's worth treating your available prep time seriously rather than treating the first attempt as a "practice run," since a second failure means starting the application cycle over. For exact numeric context on what "passing" looks like relative to the ninth-grade standard, see Philadelphia Police Exam Passing Score, and for a broader look at outcomes across attempts, check Philadelphia Police Exam Pass Rate.
Key Takeaway
With only two attempts before reapplication, treat your first sitting as the one that counts - don't bank on a second try to make up for skipped preparation.
What Happens After You Pass
Passing the two domains of the Philadelphia Police Exam is a gateway, not the finish line. Candidates who pass move on to three attempts at a physical fitness test that includes a 300-metre run, one-minute push-ups, one-minute sit-ups, and a 1.5-mile run. From there, the process continues into background, medical and drug screening, a polygraph, and a psychological evaluation, followed by 38 weeks at the Police Academy.
Minimum hiring requirements sit alongside the exam itself: a high-school diploma or equivalent, being age 20 at appointment, holding a valid driver's licence before hire, US citizenship at appointment, and - for non-residents - establishing Philadelphia residency within 18 months after hire. Current official pay starts at $67,934 during the Academy, rises to $72,651 after six months, and can reach up to $98,156, with a $2,000 sign-on bonus for eligible candidates. If you're weighing whether the full process is worth pursuing, Is the Philadelphia Police Exam Certification Worth It? and Philadelphia Police Exam Salary Guide walk through the numbers in more depth.
Application windows are also worth tracking early, since they're not open year-round. The recruitment site currently lists general and bilingual application windows for September 14 to October 11, 2026, and December 28, 2026 to January 24, 2027 - details covered in full on Philadelphia Police Exam Exam Dates.
A Two-Domain Study Plan
Because there are only two domains, a focused study plan doesn't need to be complicated - it needs to match the pacing demands of each section. Vocabulary rewards accumulated exposure to words over time; Reading Comprehension rewards practiced reading-and-answering rhythm under a clock.
Vocabulary Foundation
- Review word lists in short daily sessions rather than one long cram
- Practice choosing among five definitions, not just four, to match the actual format
- Time yourself on small batches to build a sense of an 11-second-per-question pace
Reading Comprehension Mechanics
- Practice full passages under a 2-3 minute per-passage budget
- Answer strictly from the text, not from outside knowledge or assumption
- Work through 7-9 passage sets to simulate full-section fatigue
Full Timed Simulation
- Run both sections back-to-back at 15 and 20 minutes respectively
- Track accuracy separately for each domain to see where errors cluster
- Adjust pacing based on where time is being lost, not just where questions feel hard
This is one of the few places where general study techniques - short spaced sessions for vocabulary, timed drills for comprehension - genuinely map onto the exam's actual structure, rather than being generic advice bolted on. For a full walkthrough of building this into a week-by-week plan, revisit the Philadelphia Police Exam Study Guide, and use our practice test platform to run realistic, timed simulations of both domains before test day. A quick-reference version of the key numbers in this article is also available on the Philadelphia Police Exam Cheat Sheet.
Frequently Asked Questions
There are exactly 2 domains: Vocabulary and Reading Comprehension, both drawn from the Nelson-Denny Reading Test.
The two timed sections total 35 minutes - 15 minutes for Vocabulary and 20 minutes for Reading Comprehension - though the department notes the full administration runs about 35 to 45 minutes.
Vocabulary has 80 multiple-choice questions, and Reading Comprehension has 38 multiple-choice questions across 7 to 9 passages, for 118 questions total.
Applicants must demonstrate reading ability at no less than the ninth-grade level to meet the Pennsylvania MPOETC standard.
Applicants get two attempts to pass before they must reapply to the process, so it's worth preparing thoroughly before the first sitting.