Police · Serving officer

Police fitness test: what's the annual serving-officer standard?

There is no single national standard for serving officers' annual retest. NPCC recommended level 3:7 for serving officers in July 2023 — level 5:4 stays the published standard for recruits — and forces have diverged further since: check your own force's policy.

Verified 2026-09-07 against College of Policing — JRFT implementation guidance.

The pass mark

3:7

NPCC-recommended standard for serving officers (2023) — varies by force; some forces test to 5:4, some have abolished annual testing. Check your force.

Run the 15 m test to 3:7

Role standards

NPCC recommendation for serving officers (Jul 2023)

3:7

Run it

West Yorkshire Police (serving officers, Apr 2024)

3:7

Run it

British Transport Police

Abolished — no annual in-service test since 2022

Police Scotland

None required post-probation

Marine unit / CBRN / Method of entry

5:4

Run it

Dog handler / Mounted

5:7

Run it

Police cyclist

5:8

Run it

Public order (PSU)

6:3

Run it

Air support

6:4

Run it

Police divers

6:8

Run it

Marine tactical

7:2

Run it

Authorised Firearms Officer (AFO)

7:6

Run it

Armed Response Vehicle (ARV)

9:4

Run it

DIAFO / CTSFO

10:5

Run it

Good to know

The JRFT is guidance, not statute

A UK Parliament written answer (29 Aug 2025) confirms the Job-Related Fitness Test is force guidance, not a statutory requirement — which is why individual forces have been free to change or drop their annual serving-officer retest since 2022.

Specialist standards are unaffected

The NPCC's 2023 recommendation and forces' divergence apply to the general PST/all-operational annual standard. Specialist role standards (firearms, marine, air support, divers) are unchanged from the College of Policing guidance.

Common questions

What level is the Police (JRFT annual) bleep test?

15 m shuttle run (JRFT, annual) to level 3:7 (NPCC-recommended standard for serving officers (2023) — varies by force; some forces test to 5:4, some have abolished annual testing. Check your force.).

When do I take the Police (JRFT annual)?

Annual, for officers who complete Personal Safety Training (PST) — but only where a force still runs one. Practice has diverged sharply since 2022: British Transport Police abolished annual in-service testing, Police Scotland doesn't test after probation, and forces that do test have generally moved off the original 5:4 recruit standard. Check your own force's policy.

How many attempts do I get?

Not standardised for the annual regime — varies by force; the recruit-stage policy (at least two retakes, six weeks or more apart) is the closest published guidance.

Does the standard change by role?

Yes — 14 roles carry a different standard from the entry-level one. See the role standards below.

Sources

College of Policing — JRFT implementation guidance — 2021-08-01
NPCC — Job Related Fitness Test research results (FOI disclosure) — 2023-07-19
UK Parliament — written question: is the JRFT a statutory requirement? — 2025-08-29

Changelog

2026-09-06 — in-service; verify wording on publish
2026-09-06 — Confirmed against the College of Policing JRFT implementation guidance PDF (fetched with curl, converted with pdftotext -layout): 'Forces must implement this pass standard as a qualifying process for police officers undertaking PST and carry out an annual retesting regime.' Appendix A traces the annual regime to Winsor Review (Part 2) Recommendation 33. Superseded by the 2026-09-07 correction below.
2026-09-07 — Corrected per docs/research/in-service-standards-2026-09-07.md (section 5, Police): 5:4 is the published RECRUIT standard, not a uniform serving-officer standard — NPCC recommended level 3:7 for serving officers on 19 Jul 2023 (NPCC FOI disclosure), and forces have diverged further: West Yorkshire Police adopted 3:7 (Apr 2024), British Transport Police abolished annual in-service testing (2022), Police Scotland requires none post-probation. A UK Parliament written answer (29 Aug 2025) confirms the JRFT is force guidance, not a statutory requirement, which is why practice varies. Specialist role standards (AFO 7:6, ARV 9:4, DIAFO 10:5, etc.) are unaffected by this correction and are unchanged from the College of Policing guidance.