How the Illinois State Police Sergeant exam is scored
The Merit Board combines three published components into your final score: the Job Knowledge Exam at 47.5%, the Assessment Exercise at 47.5%, and seniority at up to 5%. The written test this product prepares is exactly half of what decides your rank.
- Job Knowledge Exam
- 47.5% of the final score — 100 closed-book multiple-choice items
- Assessment Exercise
- 47.5% of the final score — in-person, scored by outside assessors
- Seniority
- Up to 5% — 0.2 points per month in current rank, capped at 25 months
- SPEAR P3 performance rating
- Eliminated from the combined score starting with the 2026 cycle
Three components, one published split
The Merit Board's Test Declaration Announcement states the weighting directly: the Job Knowledge Exam and the Assessment Exercise each count for 47.5% of the final score, and seniority makes up the remaining 5%, calculated at 0.2 points per month of time in your current rank up to a maximum of 25 months.
That is a published, official weighting — one of the few promotional processes in the country where the administrator states the split explicitly rather than leaving coverage as an unweighted count. It means this page can honestly tell you the written test's share rather than describing it only as 'part of the process'.
The Assessment Exercise is the other half, and it 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. It carries the same weight as the Job Knowledge Exam.
RankHigh's Illinois State Police Sergeant product prepares the Job Knowledge Exam. It does not prepare or simulate the Assessment Exercise — see the next page for exactly why, and what would have to change before that could honestly be offered.
A change for the 2026 cycle
SPEAR P3 performance ratings, which were formerly a further input into the combined promotional score, are eliminated starting with the 2026 cycle — one fewer non-transparent input into how candidates are ranked.
Sources
- Illinois State Police Merit Board — 2024 Test Declaration Announcement (Sergeant/Master Sergeant) · checked 2026-09-12
- Illinois State Police Merit Board — Promotional Process · checked 2026-09-12