What is the QPS Entrance Assessment (QPSea)?
Three timed, separately scored sections, delivered by ACER for the Queensland Police Service.
The QPSea is the Queensland Police Service's entrance test. It is delivered by ACER (Australian Council for Educational Research), the same organisation that runs Victoria's police exam, and it's designed to check that you can read, reason and write at the level recruit training demands. You need to meet the minimum standard in every section to move on.
Literacy
- Questions
- 30
- Time
- 35 min
- Pace per question
- About 70 s
Abstract reasoning
- Questions
- 30
- Time
- 35 min
- Pace per question
- About 70 s
Writing
- Questions
- 1
- Time
- 35 min
- Pace per question
- Whole task
| Section | Questions | Time | Pace per question |
|---|---|---|---|
| Literacy | 30 | 35 min | About 70 s |
| Abstract reasoning | 30 | 35 min | About 70 s |
| Writing | 1 | 35 min | Whole task |
From ACER's QPSea site, read 9 October 2026. Pace calculated by us.
Literacy
70 s
per question, including reading
Abstract reasoning
70 s
per question
Writing
35 min
one typed task
Our force data records the components as: Literacy: 30 questions in 35 minutes; Abstract reasoning: 30 questions in 35 minutes; Writing: 1 task in 35 minutes. Older guides list five parts, including numeracy and digital literacy. Queensland has dropped both, so if your practice book or course still drills them, it's out of date. There's no maths section in the current QPSea.
Is the QPSea a Wonderlic test? Clearing up the myth
If you search for the Queensland police test, you'll find prep sites selling "QLD Police Wonderlic" practice packs and describing a fast general-ability screening test. It's worth being careful here, because we can't see every step of every applicant's process. What we can say is what the official sources state.
QPS uses the Wonderlic
- What the official sources say
- ACER says it delivers the QPSea on behalf of QPS. We found no mention of the Wonderlic on QPS Recruiting or ACER pages.
The test is about 50 questions in 12 minutes
- What the official sources say
- The QPSea is 1 hour 45 minutes: 30 literacy questions, 30 abstract reasoning questions and a writing task, 35 minutes each.
You need maths and digital literacy
- What the official sources say
- Both were dropped. The current QPSea is literacy, abstract reasoning and writing.
The entrance test is a separate step from the QPSea
- What the official sources say
- QPS's application flowchart shows the QPSea, or an exemption, as one early stage of the process.
| Claim | What the official sources say |
|---|---|
| QPS uses the Wonderlic | ACER says it delivers the QPSea on behalf of QPS. We found no mention of the Wonderlic on QPS Recruiting or ACER pages. |
| The test is about 50 questions in 12 minutes | The QPSea is 1 hour 45 minutes: 30 literacy questions, 30 abstract reasoning questions and a writing task, 35 minutes each. |
| You need maths and digital literacy | Both were dropped. The current QPSea is literacy, abstract reasoning and writing. |
| The entrance test is a separate step from the QPSea | QPS's application flowchart shows the QPSea, or an exemption, as one early stage of the process. |
Checked 9 October 2026 against ACER's QPSea site and the QPS Recruiting application flowchart.
What to do with this
Prepare for what ACER publishes: reading comprehension, visual pattern reasoning and a typed report. Speed drills from Wonderlic-style packs won't hurt, but they don't train the writing task or ACER's question formats, and the writing is where many candidates lose the most.
Where the QPSea fits in the recruitment process
QPS's application flowchart puts the QPSea (or an exemption) near the start, alongside your expression of interest and application. Pass it and you move on to the eligibility review, the online interview, integrity vetting, medical screening, psychological assessment and the fitness test.
- 1
Register with Queensland Police Recruiting
You must register with QPS before ACER will let you book. Your invitation includes a link to the ACER portal, a timeline and, usually, a sponsorship voucher.
- 2
Book with ACER
Create an ACER portal account, choose your date and whether to sit at home or in Brisbane, and enter the voucher. You can book up to 72 hours before the session you want.
- 3
Sit the QPSea
Three timed sections: literacy, abstract reasoning and writing.
- 4
Get your results
ACER sends results to you and QPS within 7 business days. If you meet the standard, QPS Recruiting contacts you within 7 business days about the next step.
For the rest of the process, from the interview to the academy, see our guide to joining QPS. The QPS fitness test has its own standard, including a level 5/7 beep test.
Booking, cost and sitting it at home or in Brisbane
Cost is the good news. QPS sponsors your first attempt, so you pay nothing if you enter the voucher from your invitation when you book. ACER's fee table shows what happens otherwise.
First attempt, sponsored by QPS voucher
- Cost (incl. GST)
- $0
First attempt, unsponsored
- Cost (incl. GST)
- $279
Re-sit, sponsored (failed 1 or 2 components)
- Cost (incl. GST)
- $0
Re-sit, unsponsored (failed more than 2)
- Cost (incl. GST)
- $279
Missed appointment, self-funded further sitting (if permitted)
- Cost (incl. GST)
- $279
Late reschedule (within 72 hours of start)
- Cost (incl. GST)
- $107
| Situation | Cost (incl. GST) |
|---|---|
| First attempt, sponsored by QPS voucher | $0 |
| First attempt, unsponsored | $279 |
| Re-sit, sponsored (failed 1 or 2 components) | $0 |
| Re-sit, unsponsored (failed more than 2) | $279 |
| Missed appointment, self-funded further sitting (if permitted) | $279 |
| Late reschedule (within 72 hours of start) | $107 |
From ACER's QPSea registration and fees pages, read 9 October 2026.
Sitting at home (remote proctoring)
- ✓Live webcam supervision from your own room
- ✓More choice of dates
- ✓Needs a suitable computer, webcam, microphone and stable internet
Sitting at the Brisbane venue
- ✕Only 5 times a year
- ✕Supervised in person, so no home tech risk
- ✕Better if your equipment or internet is unreliable
You can reschedule for free up to 72 hours before your session in the ACER portal. Inside 72 hours, a late reschedule costs $107, and if you don't pay it ACER withholds your results. Missing your appointment can mean self-funding a further sitting, if QPS permits it.
Literacy: 30 questions in 35 minutes
The literacy section tests reading comprehension. Expect short everyday texts (notices, reports, articles, sometimes with a table or chart) and questions about what they state, imply or don't say. The skill being tested is reading precisely, not what you know about policing. Try two original questions on this passage.
Practice passage (original)
In a survey of 1,200 residents of a regional city, 64% said they felt safe walking alone at night in their own neighbourhood, up from 58% two years earlier. Residents aged over 65 were the least likely to say they felt safe. The survey did not ask about the city centre. The council will use the results to help decide where to install 15 new CCTV cameras.
Which statement is best supported by the passage?
- A A larger share of residents said they felt safe than two years earlier.
- B Most residents over 65 feel unsafe at night.
- C The city centre feels less safe than the suburbs.
- D The new cameras will go where older residents live.
Show the answer and working
Answer: A
64% is higher than 58%, so A is directly supported. B overreaches: 'least likely to feel safe' compares groups but doesn't say most over-65s feel unsafe. C can't be supported because the survey didn't ask about the city centre. D isn't stated; the results will only 'help decide'.
Statement: 36% of residents surveyed said they felt unsafe walking alone at night in their neighbourhood. True, false or cannot say?
- A True
- B False
- C Cannot say
Show the answer and working
Answer: Cannot say
It's tempting to subtract 64% from 100%. But the 36% who didn't say they felt safe may include people who were unsure, didn't answer, or never walk alone at night. The passage doesn't say how many felt unsafe.
Exam habit: Watch for statements that turn 'didn't say yes' into 'said no'. Surveys rarely split that neatly.
Abstract reasoning: 30 questions in 35 minutes
This section measures how quickly you can identify the rules governing visual patterns, without words or numbers. You'll see sequences of shapes and need to find the next one or the missing one. You have a little over a minute per question, more than in Victoria, which rewards checking every rule rather than guessing at the first one you spot.
Using the frames above, which option comes next?
Show the answer and working
Answer: A
The dot jumps between opposite corners: top-left, bottom-right, top-left, so next is bottom-right. The bars go up by one: 1, 2, 3, so next is 4. Only A has the dot bottom-right and four bars.
Using the frames above, which option fills the gap?
Show the answer and working
Answer: B
The bars count down by one (4, ?, 2, 1), so the gap has 3. The dot stays bottom-right in every frame, so it doesn't change. The shading is the hidden rule: frames 1 and 3 are shaded, frame 4 is clear, so the pattern alternates and frame 2 must be clear. B is clear, with three bars and the dot bottom-right.
Exam habit: An element that never changes is still a rule. Options often vary it to catch you out.
Writing: one typed task in 35 minutes
The writing section is a typed assessment of your writing. ACER's practice version gives you a report topic and asks you to type a response as you would on the day, without spell check or grammar check. It isn't marked in practice; ACER shows a sample report to compare against. In the real QPSea it is marked, and it's often the section that decides the result.
Topic (original): Your workplace is considering a roster of four 10-hour shifts a week instead of five 8-hour shifts. Write a report to your manager setting out the main advantages and disadvantages and give a recommendation. What's a strong structure?
Show the answer and working
Answer: Four or five paragraphs: purpose, advantages, disadvantages, recommendation
Paragraph 1 states the purpose in one or two sentences. Paragraph 2 covers advantages (one more day off, fewer commutes, longer overlap between shifts). Paragraph 3 covers disadvantages (fatigue late in a 10-hour shift, childcare pick-ups, harder cover for absences). Paragraph 4 gives a clear recommendation that follows from your points, such as a three-month trial with a review of fatigue reports. Plan for 5 minutes, write for 25, check for 5.
Exam habit: A recommendation that weighs both sides scores better than one that ignores the disadvantages you've just listed.
Which sentence has no spelling or punctuation errors?
- A The witness said she had recieved a threatening message.
- B The witness said she had received a threatening message.
- C The witness said she had received a threatning message.
- D The witness, said she had received a threatening message.
Show the answer and working
Answer: B
A misspells 'received' (i before e, except after c). C misspells 'threatening'. D puts a comma between the subject and its verb, which is never correct. Without spell check, you have to catch these yourself in the final read-through.
Words to get right without spell check
- ✓ received, receipt, believe, seize
- ✓ occurred, occurrence, referred, transferred
- ✓ separate, definitely, necessary, accommodation
- ✓ licence (noun) and license (verb)
- ✓ offence, defence, practise (verb)
- ✓ their / there / they're, its / it's
Get a practice report marked
ACER's writing practice is unscored. Ours isn't: write a timed piece and get a score and corrections free once a day. Entrance Exam Prep ($39.99, 180 days) adds criterion-by-criterion marking and up to 40 practice sets a day. Original questions, not ACER material.
How the QPSea is scored
Your raw score in each section is converted into a scale score mapped to the Australian Core Skills Framework, rather than a percentage. Scaling allows fair comparison between candidates who sat different versions of the test. The benchmark appears on your results certificate, and you must score above the minimum in all three components.
Results
7 days
business days, to you and QPS
Outcome
Met / Not met
'Standard Met' or 'Standard Not Met'
Wrong answers
No penalty
per ACER: attempt everything
ACER doesn't deduct points for wrong answers. A blank answer can't score; a guess might.
ACER and QPS don't enter into appeals about results. If something goes wrong with a question or your setup on the day, tell the supervisor and file an incident report before you leave, then email ACER straight away. There's no special consideration for illness on the day, so if you're unwell, reschedule.
Results, re-sits and how long a pass lasts
If you get "Standard Not Met", QPS allows one more attempt. You only re-sit the components you failed, and the components you passed stand.
1 component
- Re-sit
- That component only
- Who pays
- QPS sponsors it
2 components
- Re-sit
- Those two only
- Who pays
- QPS sponsors it
All 3 components
- Re-sit
- All three
- Who pays
- You pay $279
| If you failed | Re-sit | Who pays |
|---|---|---|
| 1 component | That component only | QPS sponsors it |
| 2 components | Those two only | QPS sponsors it |
| All 3 components | All three | You pay $279 |
From ACER's QPSea registration and results pages. ACER doesn't publish a waiting period before a QPSea re-sit.
Once you pass all three, your results stay valid for 3 years from the assessment date. If you stop partway through recruitment and reapply within that time, you may be allowed to skip the QPSea. QPS doesn't publish what happens if you fail the re-sit; ask QPS Recruiting before you book.
Who is exempt from the QPSea?
QPS Recruiting lists two routes to an exemption. They are specific, so read them closely.
- ✓ An ATAR of 80 to 100 (or an OP of 1 to 10), with a C or pass grade in Year 12 English and Mathematics, from an Australian educational institution
- ✓ A bachelor degree or higher (AQF level 7+) completed in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the USA, Canada or the Republic of Ireland
How we checked this
The QPS Recruiting page blocks automated readers, so we confirmed these exemptions from its published text as shown in search results on 9 October 2026, not a direct page read. Confirm your eligibility with QPS Recruiting before you assume you're exempt.
The bar is higher than Victoria's, where an ATAR of 65 can be enough. If you're exempt, put the time into your interview and fitness preparation instead, which you can start with the AI mock interview and the beep test audio.
A 4-week QPSea study plan
With no numeracy section, Queensland lets you put all your time into reading, patterns and writing. This plan assumes 40 to 60 minutes a day.
- 1
Week 1: learn the format
40 min a dayDo ACER's free sample questions for all three sections, untimed. Write one practice report. Note which section felt hardest and why.
- 2
Week 2: reading and patterns
45 min a dayDaily reading drills: find the sentence that proves each answer. Abstract reasoning: name every changing element before you look at the options.
- 3
Week 3: writing focus
50 min a dayThree timed reports this week, spell check off. Plan for 5 minutes, write for 25, check for 5. Mark each one for structure, clarity and spelling.
- 4
Week 4: full timing
60 min a day, then restSit all three sections back to back at real times: about 70 seconds a question. Use ACER's online practice tests if you bought them. Check your home setup. Rest the day before.
Official QPSea resources, and what ACER says about courses
ACER and QPS say they don't provide tutorials and don't recommend or endorse any commercial preparation course, and that some commercial courses might give misleading information. The Wonderlic confusion is a good example of why.
Free sample practice tests
- Cost
- Free
- What you get
- One sample test per component, untimed, matching the on-screen look of the QPSea
Online practice tests
- Cost
- $63 set or $22 each
- What you get
- Timed tests, 12 months' access, bought through the ACER portal after you register. Writing practice is unscored
Practise Now! QPS Entrance Assessment
- Cost
- $46.95
- What you get
- Study guide with question types, explained answers and exam-day tactics
| Official resource | Cost | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Free sample practice tests | Free | One sample test per component, untimed, matching the on-screen look of the QPSea |
| Online practice tests | $63 set or $22 each | Timed tests, 12 months' access, bought through the ACER portal after you register. Writing practice is unscored |
| Practise Now! QPS Entrance Assessment | $46.95 | Study guide with question types, explained answers and exam-day tactics |
ACER's QPSea preparation page gives two prices for the online practice tests ($63/$22 in one place, $59/$21 in another). Check the portal at checkout.
Don't be thrown by older practice products
ACER's QPSea preparation page still mentions numeracy and digital literacy practice tests, left over from the older five-part format. The current QPSea has three sections only: literacy, abstract reasoning and writing. Buy practice for those three and skip the rest.
A free practice set every day
Original verbal reasoning, logical reasoning, spelling and judgement questions with worked explanations, plus marked writing. Entrance Exam Prep is $39.99 for 180 days. Not affiliated with ACER or QPS.
Comparing forces? See how the QPSea stacks up against every other force's test in police entrance exams in Australia, or read the Victoria Police exam guide, which uses ACER's other police exam. What you'll earn once you're through is on the QLD Police salary page.
Free email alerts
Know the moment the QPSea changes
Queensland cut the QPSea from five parts to three without much fanfare. We watch ACER's QPSea pages, fees, sponsorship rules and Brisbane test dates, and email you when anything changes for Queensland applicants.
- ✓QPSea format, fee and sponsorship changes
- ✓Brisbane venue dates and new practice questions
Frequently asked questions
What is on the Queensland police entrance exam?
Three components, according to ACER: literacy (30 questions in 35 minutes), abstract reasoning (30 questions in 35 minutes) and a typed writing task (35 minutes). Numeracy and digital literacy used to be part of the QPSea but have been dropped. Each component is timed and scored separately.
Does QLD Police use the Wonderlic test?
The official sources don't say so. ACER states it delivers the QPSea on behalf of QPS, and its published format is literacy, abstract reasoning and writing. Some prep sites market 'Queensland Police Wonderlic' packs, but we found no mention of the Wonderlic on QPS or ACER pages. Prepare for the QPSea's actual sections.
How much does the QPSea cost?
Nothing for most applicants: QPS sponsors your first attempt with a voucher you enter when booking in the ACER portal. An unsponsored sitting costs $279. QPS also pays for your re-sit if you failed one or two components; fail all three and the re-sit is $279. A late reschedule within 72 hours is $107.
Can I do the QPSea at home?
Yes. ACER says the QPSea is mainly sat online with live webcam supervision (remote proctoring) from home. If you'd rather sit it in person, or your computer or internet isn't reliable, ACER runs venue-based testing in Brisbane 5 times a year, with dates shown in the portal when you book.
What is the pass mark for the QPSea?
ACER reports scale scores, not percentages, mapped to the Australian Core Skills Framework. The benchmark score appears on your results certificate, and you must score above the minimum in all three components to progress. ACER doesn't publish the benchmark number for the QPSea online.
Can I re-sit the QPSea if I fail?
Yes, once. QPS allows a second attempt at the literacy, abstract reasoning and writing components, and you only re-sit the sections you failed. You book the re-sit through the ACER portal. QPS sponsors it if you failed one or two components.
Who is exempt from the QPSea?
QPS Recruiting lists two main exemptions: an ATAR of 80 to 100 (or OP 1 to 10) with a C or pass in Year 12 English and Maths from an Australian institution, or a bachelor degree or higher (AQF level 7+) completed in Australia, NZ, the UK, the USA, Canada or Ireland. Confirm with QPS Recruiting.
How long are QPSea results valid?
3 years from the date of the assessment, once you've passed all components. If you don't finish recruitment and reapply within that time, ACER says you may be allowed to skip the QPSea and use your existing results.
Evidence
Sources and how we checked them
Every figure on this page comes from the sources below, read on 9 October 2026. Pay rates and rules change when new agreements are made, so check the source for the date you're reading this. Where we couldn't confirm something from an official source, the page says so instead of guessing. Spotted an error? Read our corrections policy.
- ACER: QPS Entrance Assessment (QPSea) — three components, timings, fees; read 9 October 2026
- ACER: QPSea registration and fees — sponsorship voucher, re-sit funding, rescheduling
- ACER: QPSea results — minimum standard, re-sits, 3-year validity, no appeals
- ACER: QPSea preparation — official practice products; no endorsement of commercial courses
- Queensland Police Recruiting: QPS Entrance Assessment — exemptions and sponsorship (page blocks automated readers; read via search extract)
- QPS Recruiting: application process flowchart (Nov 2024) — QPSea or exemption as an early stage
- JobTestPrep: Queensland Police entrance exam page — example of a prep site describing a Wonderlic-style test; not an official source
Related guides
Joining the police
More in this series
General information, not advice. This guide explains published rules and rates. It doesn't consider your personal circumstances and isn't financial, legal, tax or credit advice. Confirm anything you rely on with your force, your police association, the ATO or a licensed professional.