How the Illinois State Police Master Sergeant exam is scored
The Merit Board's current promotional-process page states that the Job Knowledge Exam and the Assessment Exercise together comprise 95% of the final score, with seniority worth up to 5%. Unlike Sergeant's process, the Board does not currently publish how that 95% splits between the two components.
- Job Knowledge Exam + Assessment Exercise
- Together, 95% of the final score — individual split not published for this cycle
- Job Knowledge Exam format
- 50 closed-book multiple-choice items
- Assessment Exercise format
- In-person, scored by outside assessors
- Seniority
- Capped at 5% of the final score, earned at a rate of 0.2 points for every month served at your current rank, up to a 25-month maximum
A combined weight, not a published split
The Merit Board's promotional-process page states, verbatim: "Promotional certification scores will now be based solely on the Job Knowledge Exam score and Assessment Exercise results, which together comprise 95% of the final score. The calculation for seniority remains unchanged and has a maximum of five points."
This is different from what an older, 2024-dated document states for the Sergeant process, which gives each of the two components its own 47.5% figure. The current page for Master Sergeant does not repeat that split, and this product does not assume it still applies without independent confirmation — the honest current answer is that the individual weighting is not published for this rank's 2026 cycle.
The Assessment Exercise is not a written test
The Assessment Exercise is administered in person, scored by assessors drawn from other state police agencies, and requires candidates to answer questions verbally and demonstrate promotional suitability. RankHigh's Illinois State Police Master Sergeant product prepares the Job Knowledge Exam only — it does not prepare or simulate the Assessment Exercise, for the same reason as the Sergeant product: the current materials that would name its rating dimensions are not publicly available.
Sources
- Illinois State Police Merit Board — Promotional Process · checked 2026-09-13
- Illinois State Police Merit Board — 2026 Promotional Process Announcement (Sergeant/Master Sergeant) · checked 2026-09-13