NSW Police fitness test
the six Physical Capacity Tests

NSW calls its fitness test the Physical Capacity Tests (PCT). It measures grip strength, trunk endurance, leg power, upper-body endurance, agility and aerobic fitness. There's no points total that lets a strong event cover a weak one: each has a pass mark.

Compared with other forces, NSW is the hardest. Its beep test minimum is the highest, its push-up count is more than double Queensland's, and it's one of only two forces with a jump test. Our national fitness test comparison ranks all eight forces.

The PCT comes at Stage 4, alongside psychometric testing and the medical, after you've lodged your Professional Suitability Application. The swim certificate comes much earlier, at Stage 2. That order matters: you can't leave fitness until you're invited, because by then you may have only weeks.

1. 1

   Stage 1: pre-application documents

   Paperwork

   Your identity and education documents, certified by a Justice of the Peace.

2. 2

   Stage 2: qualifications

   Swim + first aid

   The Aquatic Rescue Sequence certificate (valid five years) and a first aid certificate.

3. 3

   Stage 3: Professional Suitability Application

   Case manager

   Lodged online. You're assigned a case manager, and background checks, reference checks and fingerprints follow.

4. 4

   Stage 4: physical, psychometric and medical

   The PCT is here

   The Physical Capacity Tests, psychometric testing (possibly with a psychologist interview) and a medical.

Before the tests you'll complete a pre-exercise screening questionnaire, which flags health conditions that need a doctor's clearance. Answer it honestly. If you're offered a place, the next step is the Associate Degree in Applied Policing, with the Academy session at Goulburn. Our NSW Police profile covers every stage, and the NSW salary guide shows what a first-year constable earns ($92,576, including the loading).

Train first, apply second. By the time you're invited to the PCT, it's too late to start.

Handgrip: 30 kg each hand

You squeeze a handgrip dynamometer as hard as you can with one hand, then the other. Search extracts of the NSW instructions describe a one-handed grip, starting with your dominant hand, squeezing maximally for about three seconds. You get two attempts, and your better score counts. You must reach the standard in each hand, so a weak non-dominant hand is a common gap.

Vertical jump: 30 cm or more

The jump measures leg power: how high you can reach above your standing reach. You get two attempts. Thirty centimetres is modest for most active adults, but people who only run often find it surprisingly hard. Practise the technique: a quick dip to about quarter-squat depth, a strong arm swing up, and full extension through your ankles.

Train it with box jumps, squat jumps, broad jumps and heavier squats twice a week. Keep jump sets short (three to five reps) and rest fully between them. Power comes from quality, not fatigue.

Prone bridge: 90 seconds

The prone bridge is a plank on your forearms and toes, body in a straight line from shoulders to ankles. NSW describes it as a test of abdominal muscular endurance. You get one attempt. Ninety seconds is the equal-longest plank standard in Australia, so many applicants who can hold 60 seconds comfortably are caught out.

Train it with daily holds. Start at three sets of whatever you can hold with perfect form, and add five to ten seconds each week. Once you can hold 90 seconds, keep going to two minutes so the test feels easy. Side planks and dead bugs help too.

Push-ups: 25

Twenty-five push-ups, one attempt. NSW's pages differ on technique. Search extracts of the main fitness page mention push-ups from the knees or toes, while the Professional Mobility Program page for serving officers says on toes. NSW hasn't published a cadence, unlike Queensland. Train strict push-ups from your toes, chest close to the floor and body straight, so whichever rule the assessor applies on the day, you're covered.

The Illinois agility run tests speed and change of direction. Search extracts of the NSW instructions say you start lying face down with your hands by your shoulders, get up on the command, and run the cone course as fast as you can without touching any cones. You get two attempts, and you need 20 seconds or less.

The standard course is 10 m long and 5 m wide, with four cones down the middle, 3.3 m apart. You sprint up and back, weave up and back through the centre cones, then sprint up and back again. Most of your time is lost at the turns and in the weave, not on the straights.

Twenty seconds is achievable for most people with a few practice sessions. If you're over 22 seconds, it's usually technique, not fitness. Film a run on your phone and look for wide turns and upright running through the weave.

NSW's beep test minimum is Level 7.1: level 7, shuttle 1. You get one attempt, and it's usually the last event, after five others have tired you out. Calculated by us from the standard level table, you need about 1,040 m of shuttles in 6:22, and the final shuttles at 11.5 km/h with a 6.26-second window per 20 m.

Aim to finish level 7 and reach level 8 in training. That margin covers a slippery floor, a different recording and the fatigue of the earlier events. The beep test levels guide has the full table and an eight-week plan from level 5 to 7.5.

1. 1

   Week 1: test everything

   Baseline

   Do a full mock PCT in NSW's order: grip, bridge, jump, push-ups, Illinois, beep. Rank your events from weakest to strongest.

2. 2

   Weeks 2–4: build

   5–6 sessions

   Three runs a week (intervals at your stuck beep level, an easy 30–40 minute run, a turns and agility session). Two strength sessions with push-ups, squats, jumps and grip. Daily plank holds.

3. 3

   Week 5: re-test

   Re-test

   Lighter first half of the week, then another full mock PCT. Move your weakest event to the start of every session.

4. 4

   Weeks 6–8: sharpen

   Specific

   Intervals start one beep level higher. Push-ups to near-max once a week. Plank to 2 minutes. Illinois runs twice a week. One full mock PCT in week 8.

5. 5

   Week 9: consolidate

   Lighter

   Keep intensity, cut volume by a third. Practise the whole test in order once.

6. 6

   Week 10: taper

   Taper

   Two short sessions with a few efforts at test standard. Rest for 48 hours before your sitting.

If you're starting with less fitness, add four to six weeks of walk-run and bodyweight training before week 1. If your first mock test shows you're well short in several events, consider booking your sitting later rather than sooner, because you only get two.

NSW gives applicants two opportunities to attend and pass the Physical Capacity Tests. The attempts within each sitting are fixed, so it pays to know them before you arrive.

What isn't published: we couldn't find a stated waiting period between sittings, or what happens to your application after a second fail. Ask NSW Police Recruitment through your case manager before your first sitting so you can plan. Treat your first sitting as one you intend to pass, not a trial run.

NSW's own pages disagree. The main recruitment fitness page lists the handgrip at 30 kg each hand. The Professional Mobility Program page, for serving police transferring from other Australian or New Zealand forces, lists 35 kg and specifies push-ups on toes. The other PMP standards (90-second bridge, 30 cm jump, 25 push-ups, Illinois under 20 seconds, beep test 7.1) match the main page.

Separately from the PCT, NSW requires an Aquatic Rescue Sequence certificate at Stage 2 of the application. It's valid for five years. The sequence tests that you can enter the water safely and carry out a rescue, and it's assessed at a pool by an AUSTSWIM-qualified teacher using NSW Police's own instructions and certificate.

Swimming in clothes is much harder than in swimwear. If you're not a strong swimmer, book some lessons and practise in light clothes before your assessment.

Remember that the beep test usually comes last. Don't empty yourself on the push-ups or the Illinois if you've already cleared the standard by a margin. Then compare your other options: if NSW's standard looks out of reach for your timeline, the Victoria Police and Queensland tests have lower beep minimums, and the fitness test checker shows which forces you'd pass today.