How the PSET language section works
The PSET is a single timed paper of 49 questions in 60 minutes, covering literacy, numeracy and information handling. Police officer and special constable applicants both sit it, and you must pass all three sections to move on.
Police Scotland’s example paper shows two question types. In the first you read a passage and mark each statement TRUE, FALSE or NOT POSSIBLE TO SAY. In the second you answer a question about the passage in one word or a short phrase, and you may use the passage’s own words.
It is a handwritten paper sat in ink under exam conditions. You circle your choice for the first type and write in a box for the second.
How to judge each statement
Decide with the passage in front of you, one statement at a time:
- Find the sentence the statement is about before you decide anything.
- True means the passage says it or it must follow from what the passage says.
- False means the passage says the opposite, or something that cannot sit alongside it.
- Not possible to say means the passage does not settle it either way, even if it sounds likely.
- For short answers, copy the key words from the passage and spell them correctly. A full sentence is not needed.
Worked example
Passage: “Kirkmuir’s bike marking scheme began in spring and was set up by community officers with help from the local youth club. On the first Wednesday of each month, officers mark bicycles with a postcode at the community centre and record them on a register. Most residents are referred to the scheme by local schools.”
“Officers attend the community centre every Wednesday” is FALSE: the passage says the first Wednesday of each month. “The scheme has reduced bike theft in Kirkmuir” is NOT POSSIBLE TO SAY, because the passage never mentions theft figures. “The youth club helped set up the scheme” is TRUE.
Short answer: who refers most residents to the scheme? Local schools.
Tips for the real PSET language section
- Work through Police Scotland’s free mock paper and answers, linked from its recruitment page.
- To change an answer, follow the paper’s instruction: fully delete your first circle and circle the new one, so there is only one answer.
- Write clearly. A short answer the marker cannot read cannot score.
- Do not bring in what you know about policing. Judge only what the passage says.
- Watch your time across the whole paper. The 60 minutes are shared with the numeracy and information handling questions.
Practise the PSET language section on CogniPrep
Our language section gives you 13 questions on two passages in 16 minutes: true, false or not possible to say statements, plus short answers you type. Police Scotland does not publish the split between sections, so the 13 questions are our estimate, scaled from its mock paper to the 49-question total. Your result is shown against a reference line of our own, since no official pass mark is published.