1.1 Current Exam Facts & Format

1.1 Current Exam Facts & Format

Quick Answer: After you finish Commission-accredited Basic Law Enforcement Training (BLET), the North Carolina Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards Commission administers the State Comprehensive Written Examination online through Acadis within 60 days of course conclusion (12 NCAC 09B .0406). You pass by answering at least 70 percent of the questions correctly. Scores from 60 percent up to (but not including) 70 percent open a one-time re-exam path if Form F-23 reaches the Standards Division within 30 days and the re-exam occurs within 60 days of the original test. Below 60 percent—or failing the re-exam—means you must complete a subsequent full BLET before another comprehensive exam attempt.

Why These Rules Matter

BLET is not a campus quiz you negotiate with an instructor. The comprehensive written examination is the Commission’s statewide gate between academy completion and eligibility for probationary law enforcement certification under the Criminal Justice Education and Training Standards framework (see also 12 NCAC 09C .0303 for certification consequences tied to exam failure). Misunderstanding the 70 / 60 thresholds, the F-23 deadline, or the difference between written and skills requirements can cost you months—and a full academy redo.

If you are training toward a municipal, company, or state agency career, the Criminal Justice Standards Division is the day-to-day Standards Division that processes examination and certification paperwork described in Rule .0406. Deputies and other sheriffs’ office personnel still complete the same Commission-accredited BLET curriculum and comprehensive examination pathway; the North Carolina Sheriffs’ Education and Training Standards Commission and Sheriffs’ Standards Division handle sheriffs’-side certification after you meet training and exam requirements. Do not assume “POST” means a single generic national test—North Carolina’s gate is this Commission comprehensive exam after BLET.

Who Administers What, and When You Sit

Under 12 NCAC 09B .0406(a), within 60 days of the conclusion of a school’s offering of the Commission-accredited BLET Course, the Commission administers a comprehensive state examination online via the Acadis platform to each trainee who has completed all required course work pursuant to Rule .0405. You are not seated for the comprehensive examination until course work is complete, unless the Director of the Criminal Justice Standards Division grants a medical waiver under the rule’s waiver provisions (for example, certain injury situations involving final POPAT timing).

Practical implication: your School Director’s completion paperwork and Acadis readiness matter as much as your study plan. Finishing classroom blocks early does not let you self-schedule a private state exam; the Commission’s administration window and eligibility rules control timing.

Passing Score — What “70 Percent” Means

Rule .0406 states that a trainee achieves a passing score by answering a minimum of 70 percent of the questions correctly. That is a percentage-of-items standard published in the Administrative Code. What the rule does not publish is an official scored-item count, an official number of unscored pilots (if any), or an official clock time for the sitting. Those logistics are not inventable from Rule .0406. Candidates must follow the School Director briefing and Commission / Standards Division instructions for the delivery they are assigned—including how Acadis presents the exam on test day.

Do not memorize third-party claims such as “exactly 100 questions” or “exactly two hours” as if they were Code requirements. If a number is not in 12 NCAC 09B .0406 (or another controlling Commission source your school cites), treat it as unverified rumor.

Re-Examination Path (60–69 Percent)

Under 12 NCAC 09B .0406(c), a trainee who completed a scheduled BLET delivery and scored a minimum of 60 percent but below 70 percent is eligible for one re-examination of the Commission’s comprehensive state examination, subject to strict process rules:

1. Written request on Form F-23 (Commission Re-Examination Request form), received by the Standards Division within 30 days of the examination.
2. The form includes first-time examination training type, trainee information, and school information with appropriate signatures.
3. Only one re-examination opportunity, and it must occur within 60 days of the original examination(s).
4. On re-examination you must still achieve 70 percent.
5. The Director of the Standards Division assigns place, time, and date for the re-exam in writing.
6. If you do not achieve 70 percent on re-examination, you are not eligible for probationary certification as prescribed in 12 NCAC 09C .0303(d). You must enroll in and complete a subsequent offering of BLET before further examination is permitted.

Below 60 Percent — No Re-Exam Shortcut

Under 12 NCAC 09B .0406(f), a trainee who fails to achieve a minimum score of 60 percent on the comprehensive state examination shall not be given the opportunity for re-examination and is eligible to enroll in a subsequent offering of the Commission-accredited BLET Course. In plain language: the 60–69 percent band is the only band that opens the F-23 re-exam path. A score of 59 percent or lower sends you back through a full subsequent BLET before another comprehensive exam attempt.

Score Outcomes at a Glance

Written Exam vs. Skills Testing

NC Justice Academy and NCDOJ describe BLET as concluding with a comprehensive written exam and skills testing. Those are related milestones, not the same instrument. Motor-skill and performance areas (for example Compliance and Control Tactics, firearms, driver training, Standardized Field Sobriety Testing, first responder skills, and Officer Health and Wellness / POPAT components) are demonstrated under course completion rules (including Rule .0405 pathways). The Acadis comprehensive examination is the Commission’s cognitive gate described in Rule .0406. Passing one does not waive the other.

Scenario: Cadet A finishes every topic test and skills station, then scores 68 percent on Acadis. Cadet A may pursue the F-23 re-exam if the request arrives within 30 days and the re-sit occurs within 60 days. Cadet B scores 55 percent. Cadet B cannot use that re-exam path and must complete a subsequent BLET. Cadet C scores 72 percent on Acadis but still owes a skills remediation—Cadet C has not “finished BLET” merely because the written percentage cleared 70.

What to Confirm With Your School Director

• Exact Acadis exam date within the 60-day post-conclusion window
• Whether all Rule .0405 course-work and skills items are cleared for exam admission
• How results are reported back to the school (the Commission’s representative reports results to the school director on the timeline in the current rule text)
• F-23 mechanics if you land in the 60–69 band
• Any medical-waiver process if injury affects final POPAT relative to the written exam

Study Implication for This Guide

This chapter’s later sections map the 868-hour curriculum and study strategy. For exam-day facts, anchor every claim to Commission rules and your delivery’s briefing. Free practice at /practice/nc-post builds cognitive stamina; it does not replace School Director instructions about Acadis logistics the Code leaves unpublished.