- What the Philadelphia Police Exam Actually Tests
- Domain 1: Vocabulary - Format and Strategy
- Domain 2: Reading Comprehension - Format and Strategy
- Passing Score, Grade Level, and Retest Attempts
- Application Windows and What Comes After the Written Test
- A Realistic Study Timeline for the Nelson-Denny
- Beyond the Written Test: Fitness, Screening, and the Academy
- Common Mistakes That Send Candidates to a Second Attempt
- Frequently Asked Questions
- The written test is the Nelson-Denny Reading Test: 80 Vocabulary items in 15 minutes and 38 Reading Comprehension items in 20 minutes.
- Total testing time is 35 minutes across 118 questions, though the department allows about 35 to 45 minutes for full administration.
- You need reading ability at no less than the ninth-grade level, and you get two attempts before you must reapply.
- Passing unlocks three attempts at the physical fitness test: 300-metre run, push-ups, sit-ups, and a 1.5-mile run.
What the Philadelphia Police Exam Actually Tests
When people search "Philadelphia Police Exam," they usually mean the written assessment that the City of Philadelphia and the Philadelphia Police Department require of Police Officer Recruit applicants: the Nelson-Denny Reading Test. This is not a general knowledge quiz, a situational-judgment inventory, or a personality assessment. It is a timed reading instrument used specifically to satisfy Pennsylvania MPOETC's police-recruit reading standard, and it has exactly two scored sections - Vocabulary and Reading Comprehension.
Because the entire written process is built around reading speed and comprehension, preparation for this exam looks different from preparing for a criminal-justice knowledge test. There's no case law to memorize and no use-of-force policy to study. Instead, you're training a skill: reading efficiently under a hard clock while retaining and interpreting meaning. That distinction should drive every hour you spend preparing.
For a deeper breakdown of how these two sections fit together and how they're weighted in the overall process, see our Philadelphia Police Exam Exam Domains 2026 guide. If you're still confirming this is the right test for your application, our page on what is Philadelphia Police Exam walks through the basics before you commit study time.
Domain 1: Vocabulary - Format and Strategy
The Vocabulary section is the faster, denser half of the exam: 80 multiple-choice questions in 15 minutes. Each item presents a word followed by five possible definitions, and you must select the closest match. That's roughly 11 seconds per question - a pace that rewards instant word recognition far more than careful deliberation.
Vocabulary
Candidates must recognize a wide range of words quickly enough to answer nearly two questions every 20 seconds without second-guessing.
- 80 questions, 15 minutes, five answer choices per word
- Success depends on immediate recall, not context clues (there's no sentence - just the word)
- Common word families, prefixes/suffixes, and everyday professional vocabulary matter more than obscure or technical terms
- Guessing strategically on words you don't instantly know beats stalling and losing time on the rest of the section
Because there's no sentence context in this section - just the isolated word and five definitions - building vocabulary through reading alone won't be enough. You need repeated exposure to word lists, root-word patterns, and timed drills that simulate the 11-second pace. Reviewing a structured breakdown of question types can help you calibrate expectations; see the exam domains guide for how Vocabulary is typically sequenced relative to Reading Comprehension.
Domain 2: Reading Comprehension - Format and Strategy
The second section flips the challenge: 38 multiple-choice questions in 20 minutes, drawn from 7 to 9 passages. Instead of speed-recognition, this section tests your ability to extract main ideas, details, and inferences from unfamiliar text under time pressure.
Reading Comprehension
Candidates read multiple short-to-medium passages and answer several questions per passage before time runs out.
- 7 to 9 passages feeding 38 total questions in 20 minutes
- Roughly 30 seconds per question, which includes re-reading time for the passage itself
- Questions typically probe main idea, supporting detail, inference, and vocabulary-in-context
- Skimming for structure before answering questions is usually faster than reading every word first
Unlike the Vocabulary section, context here is everything - the same word can mean different things depending on the passage. Many candidates who do well on isolated vocabulary lists still lose points here because they haven't practiced reading dense text quickly while holding several details in mind simultaneously. Passage practice under a visible timer is the single highest-leverage activity for this domain.
| Feature | Vocabulary | Reading Comprehension |
|---|---|---|
| Questions | 80 | 38 |
| Time Allowed | 15 minutes | 20 minutes |
| Format | Word + 5 definitions | 7-9 passages + questions |
| Core Skill | Rapid word recognition | Extraction and inference under time pressure |
Passing Score, Grade Level, and Retest Attempts
The department requires applicants to demonstrate reading ability at no less than the ninth-grade level. Because Nelson-Denny scoring is normed by grade-equivalent bands rather than a simple percentage cutoff, it's worth reading a dedicated breakdown of what that grade-level threshold means in practice before test day - see our passing score guide for details.
Key Takeaway
You get two attempts to meet the ninth-grade reading standard. If you don't pass within those two attempts, you must reapply to the process from the beginning - so treat your first sitting as the one that counts.
Because there is no partial credit for "almost passing," and because a failed second attempt resets your candidacy, it's worth investing real preparation time before your first sitting rather than treating it as a formality. If you're unsure how the difficulty compares to other public-safety hiring exams, our difficulty guide puts the Nelson-Denny's demands in perspective, and the pass rate article discusses what the available data shows about outcomes.
Application Windows and What Comes After the Written Test
The Philadelphia Police recruitment site currently lists two application windows: September 14 to October 11, 2026 and December 28, 2026 to January 24, 2027, covering both general and bilingual applicants. These windows determine when you can submit your application, not when you sit for the Nelson-Denny itself, so mark both the application deadline and your anticipated testing date on your calendar. Our exam dates guide tracks these windows in more detail as the department updates them.
Passing the written test isn't the finish line - it's the gate to the next stage. Candidates who pass receive three attempts at the physical fitness test, which covers a 300-metre run, one-minute push-ups, one-minute sit-ups, and a 1.5-mile run. From there, the process continues through background investigation, medical and drug screening, a polygraph, and a psychological evaluation before candidates report for 38 weeks at the Police Academy.
For the full list of baseline eligibility items - age 20 at appointment, a high-school diploma or equivalent, a valid driver's license before hire, US citizenship at appointment, and Philadelphia residency within 18 months of hire for non-residents - see our requirements guide. If you're weighing whether the full hiring path is worth pursuing given current pay bands, the salary guide and ROI analysis lay out the numbers.
A Realistic Study Timeline for the Nelson-Denny
Generic study advice - flashcards, timed drills, spaced repetition - only helps if it's mapped to the specific structure of this exam. Because Vocabulary rewards instant recall and Reading Comprehension rewards sustained focus, splitting your preparation by skill type (rather than by day count alone) tends to work better than cramming both at once.
Vocabulary Foundations
- Drill high-frequency word lists daily using flashcards with five-option multiple choice, mimicking the actual format
- Time yourself at roughly 11 seconds per word to build pacing instinct
- Track missed words and rebuild them into a personal review deck
Reading Comprehension Reps
- Practice with 7-to-9-passage sets under a visible 20-minute timer
- Focus on main-idea and inference questions, the most common trap categories
- Alternate skim-first and read-first strategies to see which yields faster, more accurate answers for you
Full Simulation
- Run at least one full 35-minute simulation of both sections back-to-back
- Review error patterns rather than just scores - are mistakes coming from time pressure or misunderstanding?
- Rest the day before testing; reading stamina drops sharply with fatigue
Our full Philadelphia Police Exam study guide expands this into a complete plan, and the one-page cheat sheet is useful for a final review pass the night before your test date. You can also run timed practice sets directly through our practice test platform to simulate both sections under real time constraints.
Beyond the Written Test: Fitness, Screening, and the Academy
It helps to see the written exam as one link in a longer chain. After passing the Nelson-Denny, candidates move into the physical fitness test (three attempts allowed), then background, medical, and drug screening, a polygraph exam, and a psychological evaluation. Those who clear every stage report to 38 weeks at the Police Academy.
Current official pay for that pathway is $67,934 during the Academy, rising to $72,651 after six months, with a maximum of $98,156 and a $2,000 sign-on bonus. None of that is relevant to how you should prepare for Vocabulary and Reading Comprehension, but it's useful context for why treating the written exam seriously - rather than as a formality - pays off across the whole process. For a broader look at how the role fits into a law-enforcement career path, see our pages on Philadelphia Police Exam jobs and Philadelphia Police Exam training.
Common Mistakes That Send Candidates to a Second Attempt
- Treating Vocabulary like a comprehension task. There's no sentence context - just a word and five definitions - so hesitating to "figure out" meaning from surrounding text wastes seconds you don't have.
- Reading every passage word-for-word before glancing at the questions. With 38 questions across 7 to 9 passages in 20 minutes, an inefficient reading strategy alone can cause a candidate to run out of time before finishing.
- Skipping timed practice entirely. Untimed vocabulary or comprehension review builds knowledge but not the pacing instinct the actual 15- and 20-minute windows demand.
- Assuming one attempt is enough runway. With only two attempts before you must reapply, showing up underprepared on the first try raises the stakes on the second.
- Ignoring the physical fitness test until after passing the written exam. Since you get three attempts at fitness testing once you clear the Nelson-Denny, some early conditioning during your reading prep avoids a scramble later.
If any of these mistakes sound familiar from your own early practice sessions, it's worth revisiting the fundamentals in our certification overview or checking the meaning and background guide for a refresher on exactly what this test is designed to measure before you dive back into focused practice sets.
Frequently Asked Questions
In this context, it specifically refers to the Nelson-Denny Reading Test administered to Philadelphia Police Officer Recruit applicants to satisfy Pennsylvania MPOETC's reading standard - it is not a general knowledge or situational-judgment test.
There are 118 total questions: 80 Vocabulary questions in 15 minutes and 38 Reading Comprehension questions in 20 minutes, for 35 minutes of timed testing.
You get a second attempt. If you don't pass within those two attempts, you must reapply to the hiring process from the start.
You must demonstrate reading ability at no less than the ninth-grade level, as measured by the Nelson-Denny's grade-equivalent scoring.
You move to the physical fitness test (300-metre run, push-ups, sit-ups, 1.5-mile run, with three attempts allowed), followed by background, medical, and drug screening, a polygraph, a psychological evaluation, and 38 weeks at the Police Academy.