CHP Written Exam Practice (PELLET-B)
Preparation guide for the California Highway Patrol officer written exam, POST's PELLET-B
Who sets the exam
The CHP does not write its own officer test. Its written exam page says: "The CHP written exam is provided by the California Commission on Peace Officers Standards and Training (POST) Entry-Level Law Enforcement Test Battery (PELLET-B)." POST sets the same test for police and sheriff applicants across California, so everything published about the PELLETB applies to you. The CHP's own applicant resources page links to POST's applicant preparation guide, which is the best free material there is.
Where it sits in the process
At the CHP the Physical Abilities Test comes first, and you move on to the written exam once you pass it. You choose one of the CHP's eight divisions across the state and take both tests there. Pass the written exam and you move on to the background investigation.
The 30-day rule is POST's, not the CHP's, and it follows you between agencies: you can sit the PELLETB only once every 30 days, wherever you take it. Book a city department's sitting a week before your CHP date and one of the two results will not stand.
What is on it in 2026
Two changes make a lot of older CHP preparation material out of date. POST removed the CLOZE sub-test from every sitting from 1 January 2025, and in 2026 began moving the test from paper booklets onto the Assess.ai platform, taken in person on an agency computer under a lockdown browser. What is left is four multiple-choice sub-tests on one clock:
| Sub-test | What you do | Items |
|---|---|---|
| Clarity15 to 18 items | Pick the more clearly written of two sentences | 15 to 18 |
| Vocabulary15 to 18 items | Pick the closest meaning of an underlined word | 15 to 18 |
| Spelling15 to 18 items | Pick the correct spelling for a blank | 15 to 18 |
| Reading comprehension20 to 24 items | Answer questions on short and longer passages | 20 to 24 |
That is 65 to 78 items in 1 hour 45 minutes, with nothing deducted for a wrong answer. As the CHP's recruitment site puts it, it is "not a test of law enforcement terms, it is an English and grammar test". If a guide still describes a CLOZE passage, it was written for the test as it was before 2025.
How it is marked
POST counts the items you get right and turns the count into three T-scores, for writing, reading and the total, where 50 is average. POST recommends that agencies set 42 or above but leaves the pass mark to each agency, and none of the CHP pages we have read gives its own. Treat any CHP pass mark you see quoted elsewhere as unverified, and aim for a comfortable margin rather than a number.
Two practical points follow. Leave nothing blank, because a guess can only help. And look after your reading time. Reading comprehension is scored on its own and, although POST does not publish the weights, it probably counts as much in the total as clarity, vocabulary and spelling together, which would make a reading question worth more than a writing one.
Practise the PELLET-B
Each of these runs at the real item types, with free navigation and no penalty for a wrong answer, as POST runs them.
- PELLETB Full Test (online format) (70 questions · 105 minutes) - The whole test on one 1 hour 45 minute clock, with flags, an item list and a dashboard like the online platform. The one to sit before your CHP date.
- PELLETB Reading Comprehension (22 questions · 55 minutes) - Reading is scored on its own and probably carries as much as the three writing sections together, so it is the drill most likely to move your total.
- PELLETB Clarity (16 questions · 12 minutes · free) - Pick the more clearly written of two sentences. A short list of faults, and the quickest section to improve.
- PELLETB Vocabulary (16 questions · 10 minutes) - Pick the closest meaning of an underlined word, from four.
- PELLETB Spelling (16 questions · 8 minutes) - Pick the correct spelling for a blank, from four near-identical versions.
Full detail on the format, the T-scores and every agency's rules is on the PELLETB provider page, and the two recent changes are covered in PELLETB in 2026.