California · Corrections · Promotional
CDCR Captain, Adult Institution — written examination preparation
Exam authority: California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation · California
Professional promotional exam preparation
CDCR Captain, Adult Institution Exam Prep
Prepares the CDCR Captain, Adult Institution (Multi-Departmental Promotional Examination)
CDCR publishes one component for this examination — Departmental Policies and Procedures — and this prepares it.
$399one-time
- Access
- 180 days from purchase
- Covers
- 9 prepared areas
- Sources
- Cited on every question
No subscription. No automatic renewal.
Access starts when payment clears, on the email you use at checkout — no password to create.
What this prepares
The nine topics below are RankHigh's own subdivision of that single component, not CDCR's; CDCR publishes no subdivision and no weighting inside it.
- Use of Force
- Incident Reporting and Notifications
- Post Orders and Staffing
- Incarcerated Person Discipline
- Property, Privileges and Contraband
- Communications and Attorney Access
- Employee Discipline and Grievances
- Employee and Appointee Conduct
- Restricted Housing and State of Emergency
Every question names the published provision it was written from.
How RankHigh helps you prepare
- Rank-specific practice across this exam’s prepared areas
- Worked explanations after every served question
- Missed-question and due-review queues
- Timed practice in this exam’s configured format
Coverage notes
- Institution-level emergency operations are not prepared — the DOM routes them to its restricted 55000 sequence, which CDCR does not publish.
- Title 15 section 3335, on restricted housing placement, is not prepared.
- The background, medical, psychological and physical stages are not prepared — none is scored by the written examination.
View coverage details
- The share of the examination this prepares is unknown and is not claimed — CDCR publishes no item count, no duration and no weighting inside its single component
- Institution-level emergency operations are not prepared — the DOM routes them to its restricted 55000 sequence, which CDCR issues only to need-to-know positions and does not publish
- Title 15 section 3335 itself, the restricted housing placement section, is not prepared — its current text could not be obtained from CDCR's own published documents, and nothing is written from a section nobody has read
- The background, medical, psychological and physical stages the bulletin describes are not prepared — none is scored by the written examination
Depth and format— see the numbers
- Practice questions
- 168 outside the reserved simulations
- Full-length simulations
- 2 fixed forms of 45 questions
- Worked explanations
- Every served question, including the wrong options
- Timed practice
- In this exam's configured format
If you buy before taking the written examination and your official result says you did not pass, you can ask for your money back. Full conditions
See the questions before you buy
Answer one, then read the explanation you would get.
Sample question 1 of 3
Use of Force
See what you unlock with RankHigh Prep
More than practice questions — a clear study plan, focused practice across the areas RankHigh prepares, help reviewing mistakes, and a simple way to know what to work on next.
CDCR Captain · Today
Example — not your history
Today’s training
15 minutes
Approximately 10–15 questions
Focused on your weakest areas
Use of Force + Incident Reporting and Notifications
Your areas
- Use of ForceNeeds work58% · 24 answered
- Incident Reporting and NotificationsDeveloping71% · 31 answered
- Post Orders and StaffingStrong88% · 26 answered
3 items due for review · 5 of 8 areas practised this week
StartOptional baseline
A short baseline sets your starting point. Skip it if you would rather practise.
TodayFocused practice
One session a day, aimed at the areas that need attention.
ReviewLearn from mistakes
The questions you missed come back, each with a worked explanation.
Keep goingFollow your plan
Pick up where you left off, and see how much of the exam you have covered.
$399 one-time · 180 days of access · no subscription
What you have to take
One component, and CDCR names the books
Bulletin 3CE01 states the plan in a sentence: the written test consists of one component, Departmental Policies and Procedures, weighted 100.00%, and a minimum rating of 70.00% is required to obtain a position on the eligible list. The 2026 study guide says the same thing in its own words — one segment of multiple-choice items measuring your knowledge of departmental policies and procedures.
What makes the examination preparable is that CDCR names the corpus and publishes all of it free. Both the 2024 and the 2026 guide recommend the most updated CDCR Department Operations Manual and Title 15 of the California Code of Regulations, and the 2026 guide adds the Job Analysis for the classification and the State Personnel Board job specification. No named textbook, nothing behind a paywall, nothing restricted.
RankHigh is independent third-party preparation and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or approved by CDCR or the State of California.
What RankHigh covers in this exam
- Use of Force
- Incident Reporting and Notifications
- Post Orders and Staffing
- Incarcerated Person Discipline
- Property, Privileges and Contraband
- Communications and Attorney Access
- Employee Discipline and Grievances
- Employee and Appointee Conduct
- Restricted Housing and State of Emergency
Official exam information
Last successfully checked October 1, 2026- Applications
- The previous cycle has ended. The next cycle has not been publicly announced
- Written exam
- April 27, 2026–May 3, 2026
Verified exam details
- Exact exam
- CDCR Captain, Adult Institution (Multi-Departmental Promotional Examination)
- Administered by
- California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation
- Current cycle
- 2026 cycle
- Rank
- Captain
- Written exam weight
- 100%
RankHigh preparation
The written test is the whole of the examination — weighted 100 percent, one component, Departmental Policies and Procedures, and 70.00 percent to reach the eligible list
Exam-change alerts are planned as a separate opt-in.
- Written test
- Weighted 100% — the only scored component
- Minimum rating
- 70.00% for a position on the eligible list
- Delivery
- Online, through a test link emailed to candidates
- Eligibility
- Limited to state employees — this is a promotional examination
- Published scope
- Eighteen knowledge and eighteen ability statements
Decides your rank
Written examination
One component, Departmental Policies and Procedures, weighted 100%. This is what RankHigh prepares.
Published scope
Bulletin 3CE01 prints eighteen numbered 'Knowledge of' statements and eighteen numbered 'Ability to' statements. It does not say how many questions the examination has, how long it runs, or how the single component is weighted inside itself.
Official listing
CDCR Captain, Adult Institution (Multi-Departmental Promotional Examination)
Exam identity checked 2026-09-12
Everything included
- Rank-specific practice across this exam’s prepared areas
- Worked explanations after every served question
- Missed-question and due-review queues
- Provision references on source-backed practice
- Timed practice in this exam’s configured format
All of it is online: RankHigh runs in your browser on a phone, tablet or computer. There is nothing to download and nothing is posted to you.
How this preparation is built
These are the automated checks every question goes through before it can be served. They are run over the whole bank, by software, every time it changes.
- Every question is original
- Every question carries an approval record
- Every answer is explained
- Every question names the source it was written from
- The bank is measured, not just proofread
How questions are checked
- Every question is original
- Each one is written for RankHigh. Nothing is taken from a real examination, a competitor's bank or a public question set, and every new batch is checked for duplicates against every other question in the catalog.
- Every question carries an approval record
- A question that has not been through these checks is not served at all. That is what this product serves, not what has been written.
- Every answer is explained
- All of them, not the hard ones. An explanation says why the keyed answer is right and what each of the other options gets wrong, so a question you got wrong is worth more to you than one you got right.
- Every question names the source it was written from
- Every one of them cites the published provision the answer rests on — 206 different ones in all — so any answer here can be checked against the document itself rather than taken on our word. Where the published material is revised, the reference is what makes finding the affected questions a search rather than a re-read. A citation is a statement about provenance and nothing more: it says where the question came from, not that the answer is right.
- The bank is measured, not just proofread
- Answer positions, answer lengths and repeated scenarios are measured across the whole bank against chance. Where a pattern would let somebody pick the answer from its shape instead of its content, the questions are repaired — because a pattern you can learn here is one that will not be there on the day.
$399one-time
180 days of access from payment clearance. No subscription. No automatic renewal.
Questions
Is this examination open to me if I do not already work for CDCR?
No. Bulletin 3CE01 heads its eligibility section 'COMPETITION LIMITED TO STATE EMPLOYEES'. This is a promotional examination and every candidate is already a serving employee.
How much of the examination does this cover?
CDCR publishes one component for this examination — Departmental Policies and Procedures — and this prepares it. That is a count of components, not a percentage, and it is deliberately not stated as one: CDCR publishes no item count, no duration and no weighting inside that component, so the share of the examination any product prepares is unknown. Anyone quoting you a percentage has invented it.
When is the next examination?
CDCR has not announced one. Three administrations are on record — 2022, 2024 and 27 April to 3 May 2026 — and CDCR publishes no cadence for this title. Its departmental examination schedule, read on 15 September 2026, lists Correctional Lieutenant for January 2027 and does not list Captain, Adult Institution at all. Three sittings two years apart are a pattern somebody noticed, not a published cycle, so we do not predict the next one. The material does not change while you wait: the DOM and Title 15 are what the examination is written from.
How long is the examination and how many questions does it have?
CDCR does not say. Neither the 2026 guide, the 2024 guide nor bulletin 3CE01 states an item count or a time limit — the guide's advice is simply to pace yourself. Both practice papers are 45 questions in 60 minutes. That length and that clock are RankHigh's own — CDCR publishes no item count and no time limit for this examination.
Are the nine topics the examination's structure?
No, and that matters. CDCR publishes ONE component. The nine are our own subdivision of it, made because a candidate told only 'you are weak on departmental policy' cannot act on that. No topic carries a weight, and none should be read as a section of the real exam.
What does the score actually buy?
A position on the eligible list, at a minimum rating of 70.00%. CDCR states that list eligibility is retained only until a new Captain, Adult Institution examination is given, and that eligibility may be abolished after twelve months of establishment. It also states that veterans' preference and career credits are not granted in promotional examinations.
More questions (4)
Where do the questions come from?
The Department Operations Manual and Title 15, which are the two corpora CDCR's own guides recommend, plus the adopted rulemaking texts CDCR publishes when it amends a regulation. Every question is original and carries the article or section it rests on. Nothing is taken from a CDCR sample question, a commercial preparation product or any study group — and CDCR itself states that it does not authorise informal sample questions or the discussion of test content.
Is this a subscription?
No. It is a single payment of $399. Nothing recurring, nothing to cancel, and no card kept on file for later.
How long do I have access?
Your access opens online as soon as payment clears — there is nothing to wait for in the post. Your one-time purchase includes 180 days of access from the time payment clears. No subscription. No automatic renewal. One payment, nothing recurring, nothing to cancel.
Does RankHigh guarantee a passing score?
No, and be careful with anyone who does. What this does is show you which areas are costing you points and give you focused practice on them. The work is still yours to do.
RankHigh is an independent preparation product. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the California government, or any city, county or department. Application and hiring decisions are made by the hiring authority — check the official posting for anything that decides your application.