California · Public Safety · Entry level
California POST Dispatcher Test Prep
Exam authority: California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training · California
Online exam preparation
California POST Dispatcher Test Prep
Prepares the POST Entry-Level Dispatcher Selection Test Battery
Covers six of the eleven subtests POST publishes — the six that are paper-and-pencil.
$49one-time
- Access
- 90 days from purchase
- Covers
- 6 prepared areas
No subscription. No automatic renewal.
Access starts when payment clears, on the email you use at checkout — no password to create.
What this prepares
- Public Safety Bulletin
- Assigning Field Units
- Evaluating Facts
- Setting Priorities
- Reading Comprehension
- Clarity
How RankHigh helps you prepare
- Targeted 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
- The five audiotape subtests are not prepared: Recalling Facts & Details, Call-Taking, Oral Directions, Checking Coded Information, Checking & Listening.
- Those five carry the same weight as the six prepared here, and this product plays no audio.
- No passing score is promised — POST recommends a range of 48 to 57 and leaves the cut score to each hiring agency
- Whether the agency you are applying to uses this battery at all — Regulation 1957 lets an agency use an alternative test of the same abilities
View coverage details
- The five audiotape subtests — Recalling Facts & Details, Call-Taking, Oral Directions, Checking Coded Information and Checking & Listening. They carry the same weight as the six prepared here and this product plays no audio
- Any promise about a passing score: POST recommends a range of 48 to 57 and leaves the cut score to each hiring agency
- Whether the agency you are applying to uses this battery at all — Regulation 1957 lets an agency use an alternative test of the same abilities
Depth and format— see the numbers
- Practice questions
- 310 outside the reserved simulations
- Full-length simulations
- 2 fixed forms of 100 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
Public Safety Bulletin
SHIFT BULLETIN E — read for three minutes, then it is withdrawn. 1. Shoplifting in progress — reported at 0325 hours on Almond Street. A person wearing a maroon sweatshirt and cargo shorts was seen leaving in a light blue convertible, last observed southbound past the transit yard. Units are to complete a supplemental report before end of watch. 2. Trespass at a construction yard — reported at 1130 hours on Delmar Way. A person wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt and dark jeans was seen leaving in a cream-colored box truck, last observed north on the frontage road. Units are to log the case number with the records unit. 3. Stolen vehicle report — reported at 2245 hours on Gladstone Court. A person wearing a yellow safety vest and tan trousers was seen leaving in a dark blue pickup truck, last observed west across the rail crossing. Units are to contact the reporting party before clearing. 4. Petty theft from a locker room — reported at 0820 hours on Junction Parkway. A person wearing a blue mechanic's coverall was seen leaving in a black delivery van, last observed eastbound over the flood channel. Units are to advise the day-shift supervisor by memorandum. 5. Commercial burglary — reported at 1715 hours on Meridian Way. A person wearing an orange rain shell and rubber boots was seen leaving in a yellow compact car, last observed south toward the freeway ramp. Units are to notify the property owner at the number on file.
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.
POST Dispatcher Battery · Today
Example — not your history
Today’s training
15 minutes
Approximately 10–15 questions
Focused on your weakest areas
Public Safety Bulletin + Assigning Field Units
Your areas
- Public Safety BulletinNeeds work58% · 24 answered
- Assigning Field UnitsDeveloping71% · 31 answered
- Evaluating FactsStrong88% · 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.
$49 one-time · 90 days of access · no subscription
What you have to take
One battery, and every agency decides what to do with your score
POST writes and scores this battery; the agency you apply to decides what counts. It publishes a recommended range of 48 to 57 on the overall T-score and says in its own words that setting the cut score is the agency's responsibility, so two departments can read the same score differently. Your score also has no shelf life — a department that tests you gives you a letter with your T-score on it, and another department may accept that letter rather than testing you again. Commission Regulation 1957 requires dispatcher applicants to be assessed for verbal, reasoning, memory and perceptual abilities, and permits an agency to use an alternative job-related test instead, so check what the agency you are applying to actually uses.
What RankHigh covers in this exam
- Public Safety Bulletin
- Assigning Field Units
- Evaluating Facts
- Setting Priorities
- Reading Comprehension
- Clarity
Official exam information
Last successfully checked October 1, 2026- Applications
- Testing dates vary by agency
- Written exam
- Testing dates vary by agency
Verified exam details
- Exact exam
- POST Entry-Level Dispatcher Selection Test Battery
- Administered by
- California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training
RankHigh preparation
One statewide battery; the score never expires and each agency sets its own T-score
Exam-change alerts are planned as a separate opt-in.
- Subtests prepared
- 6 of 11, all weighted equally
- Format
- Multiple choice, about 2.5 hours
- Score
- A T-score with no expiry date
- Set by
- Each hiring agency sets its own minimum
Decides your rank
The six written subtests
6 of the 11 subtests · each weighted equally
Public Safety Bulletin, Assigning Field Units, Evaluating Facts, Setting Priorities, Reading Comprehension and Clarity. POST publishes the number of items, the time limit and the number of answer choices for every one of them, so these are practiced at the real lengths rather than at a made-up pace.
Prepared in full by the modules below
Decides your rank
The five audiotape subtests
Recorded calls and radio traffic · not prepared here
Recalling Facts & Details, Call-Taking, Oral Directions, Checking Coded Information and Checking & Listening play a recording and ask questions about it. They count toward your score exactly as much as the six above — POST weights every subtest equally — and RankHigh prepares none of them and plays no audio.
Not prepared by RankHigh — the written subtests only
Official listing
POST Entry-Level Dispatcher Selection Test Battery
Exam identity checked 2026-09-07
Everything included
- Targeted 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
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
- 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.
- 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.
$49one-time
90 days of access from payment clearance. No subscription. No automatic renewal.
Questions
How much of the battery does this actually prepare?
Six of the eleven subtests. POST states that every subtest carries equal weight toward your total score, so six of eleven is six elevenths of the score — and that is quoted from POST rather than estimated. The other five play a recording: Recalling Facts & Details, Call-Taking, Oral Directions, Checking Coded Information and Checking & Listening. RankHigh plays no audio and prepares none of them. If that gap is not acceptable to you, this is the wrong product and it is better to know now.
What score do I need to pass?
POST does not set one. It publishes a recommended range of 48 to 57 on the overall T-score and says setting the cut score is the responsibility of the agency using the test, so the number that matters is the one the agency you are applying to uses. Ask them. Nothing here is a pass mark, and any site that gives you one for the POST dispatcher battery is telling you something POST does not publish.
How is the test scored, and does guessing hurt me?
Your raw score on each subtest is standardised and the eleven are combined into an overall T-score with an average of 50 and a standard deviation of 10; you also get separate scores for verbal, reasoning, memory and perceptual ability. POST publishes a guessing rule that is worth knowing: a fraction of a point is subtracted for each wrong answer and a blank costs nothing, so random guessing is worth nothing on average. On the two-option Clarity section that penalty is at its heaviest.
Does my score expire, and can I use it at another department?
POST says a score has no shelf life. A department that tests you gives you a letter with your T-score, and another department may accept that letter as evidence you have met the POST standard — that is its decision rather than POST's. If you want to retake the test, POST says you must wait 30 calendar days and may retest on the 31st.
Is this the same as CritiCall?
No. CritiCall is a commercial dispatcher test some agencies use for typing, data entry and call-handling skills, and it is a different product from a different company. This prepares the POST Entry-Level Dispatcher Selection Test Battery, which POST publishes an examinee guide for. Regulation 1957 lets an agency use an alternative job-related test of the same abilities, so check which one your agency actually administers before preparing for either.
Is this the PELLETB?
No, though POST runs both. The PELLETB is the entry-level test for peace officers and has four sub-tests; this battery is for public safety dispatchers and has eleven. The only section the two have in common by name is Clarity, and even there the questions here are written around dispatch work rather than patrol work. A PELLETB score does not satisfy the dispatcher requirement and this product is not PELLETB preparation.
More questions (4)
Why do some sections have only two or three answer choices?
Because that is what POST publishes. Evaluating Facts offers three — true, false, or cannot be determined — Setting Priorities offers first, second or third, and Clarity offers two. Building those with four choices would invent an answer the examination does not offer, so the practice here matches the published format instead.
Is this a subscription?
No. It is a single payment of $49. 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 90 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.
Guides and resources
- The eleven subtests on the POST dispatcher batteryWhat is on the California POST dispatcher test?
- The five subtests this product does not prepareDoes RankHigh cover the listening sections of the POST dispatcher test?
- How the POST dispatcher test is scored, and what counts as a passWhat T-score do I need on the POST dispatcher test?
- Whether your POST dispatcher score expires, and whether it travelsCan I use my POST dispatcher test score at another agency?
- The Public Safety Bulletin section, and what three minutes is enough forHow do I prepare for the memory section of the POST dispatcher test?
- Assigning Field Units and Setting Priorities: applying rules you have never seenWhat are the rule sections on the POST dispatcher test like?
- Evaluating Facts and Clarity: the two sections with fewer than four choicesWhat is the true-false-cannot-be-determined section on the POST dispatcher test?
- This is not CritiCall, and it is not the PELLETBIs the California dispatcher test the same as CritiCall?
RankHigh is an independent preparation product. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training, 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.