Methodology

Methodology

How we verify a number before we publish it

Source, date, changelog

Every standard on Passline is read directly from the recruiting service's own published page or PDF — never copied from a forum thread, an old app, or another aggregator. Each test page links straight to that source and prints the date we last checked it. When we make a change — a figure, a wording tweak, a service changing its test — the old value doesn't just disappear: it goes into that page's changelog, visible in a collapsed Changelog section at the bottom. We re-check every figure against the primary source on the day we publish, not just on the day we first wrote it.

Sources we trust

A recruiting service's own page or PDF comes first — that's what every standard on this site links to. Where policy isn't published anywhere official, the next most valuable source we've found is a published employment tribunal decision on gov.uk: it puts unpublished internal policy on the record, under oath. That's how we know the general prison officer annual fitness test was suspended in September 2023 — no public policy document says so, only a tribunal judgment quoting the internal suspension letter. (The police's divergence from the published 5:4 recruit standard for serving officers is sourced differently — an NPCC disclosure and a UK Parliament written answer, cited on that page.) We don't cite forums, betting-affiliate sites, or outlets that contradict an official source.

Three things we haven't settled yet

Three figures currently have a conflict between sources. Each is marked "TO SETTLE" in its page's changelog, and we won't call them final until they're checked against the live official page on the day we publish:

  • Army — Royal Engineers ball-throw/run. One reading of the Fit to Fight RFT(E) material gives 2.7 m / 11:00; another gives 3.0 m / 11:30.
  • Prison officer — static shield hold weight. The MoJ fitness-testing PDF says 6 kg; the candidate portal's own guidance booklet says 7 kg. Published here as "6-7 kg" until one source is confirmed correct.
  • Royal Navy — Candidate Preparation Course wording. As of our last check, the CPC page still describes the 2.4 km run even though the PJFT itself is due to switch to a bleep test on 1 October 2026. We'll update the wording once the source page catches up.

The protocols we use

  • UK 20 m multi-stage fitness test. Starts at 8.0 km/h, the protocol used by the Army, Royal Navy and most UK employers. An 8.5 km/h Léger start is offered as a variant, not the default.
  • 15 m police/prison schedule. Its own speed table, not the 20 m protocol scaled down — the two aren't interchangeable test by test.
  • VO₂ estimates use the Ramsbottom equation for adults, the one the College of Policing's own guidance is built on.
  • We deliberately don't offer a 15 m-to-20 m level conversion. The schedules cover different ground at different speeds; a "your 5:4 on 15 m equals X on 20 m" table would be a guess dressed up as a fact.

Attribution

Standards are reproduced from official government and service publications under the Open Government Licence, attributed on the page they appear on.

Independence

Passline is independent. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to any police force, the Ministry of Defence, the Royal Navy, the British Army, the Royal Air Force, any fire and rescue service or HM Prison Service.

Before you run a maximal test

A maximal fitness test carries risk. If you have a medical condition, speak to your GP before you attempt one.