The OACP Certificate examination does not have a traditional passing score. Unlike many standardized tests where candidates must achieve a minimum percentage to pass, the OACP assessment operates differently. All candidates who complete the testing process receive a certificate; their scores are then provided to police services as evaluation tools.
How Scoring Impacts Your Competitiveness
Understanding this scoring approach is important for candidates. While there is no official minimum score to obtain the certificate, your results significantly impact your competitiveness in police hiring. Higher scores make candidates more attractive to police services, while lower scores may result in being passed over for candidates with stronger performance.
Scores are reported to police services in percentile format, indicating how a candidate performed relative to other test-takers. For the personality assessment (Part C), results show propensity for positive workplace behaviors and negative counterproductive behaviors. Police services seek candidates with high scores on positive traits and low scores on negative traits.
Score Reporting and Preparation Strategy
Candidates do not receive their own scores directly. When completing the test, you will not be told how you performed. Police services you apply to request your scores directly from the OACP Certificate provider.
Because scores from a single test attempt are shared with all police services a candidate applies to, and retesting requires waiting 10 months, thorough preparation before attempting the examination is essential. Many preparation sources recommend achieving at least 70% accuracy on practice tests before taking the actual exam.
