By anEDGE — Canada’s #1 RCMP Interview & RCMP Entrance Exam Coaching Team
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If you’re applying to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), one of the first big questions you’ll ask yourself is:
“How hard is the RCMP Entrance Exam—really?”
The truth is that many applicants wonder how hard the RCMP Entrance Exam is because this assessment determines whether you continue in the RCMP hiring process. While the exam is not impossible, it is intentionally challenging and designed to measure the reasoning, judgment, and communication skills needed for front-line policing.
Far too many applicants underestimate the test, fail to practice under timed conditions, and end up rewriting—or failing entirely.
This guide breaks down RCMP exam difficulty section by section, explains why people struggle, and shows you what to do to make the exam dramatically easier.
How Hard Is the RCMP Entrance Exam? Section-by-Section Breakdown (2026)
RCMP Exam Difficulty: Quick Summary
| Category | Assessment |
|---|---|
| Overall Difficulty | Moderate–High |
| Most Failed Sections | Deductive Reasoning, Written Communication, Situational Judgment |
| Easiest Section | Memory & Observational Skills |
What Makes the RCMP Entrance Exam Hard?
The exam is challenging because of:
Strict time pressure (the RCMP Online Entrance Assessment is only 60–75 minutes total)
Heavy reading load
Multi-step logic
High standards for grammar and writing
Realistic police-style situational judgment
Knowing how hard the RCMP Entrance Exam is helps you study smarter—not harder.
How Hard Is the RCMP Entrance Exam? Section-by-Section Breakdown (2026)
RCMP Entrance Exam Difficulty: Section-by-Section Breakdown
Below is a breakdown of each RCMP Entrance Exam section, how difficult it is, and why candidates struggle.
1. Written Communication (Language Comprehension)
Difficulty: ★★★★☆ (Challenging)
Overall, this isn’t the section that makes the RCMP Entrance Exam hard for everyone, but weaker writers often struggle.
This section evaluates:
Grammar
Sentence structure
Paragraph organization
Clarity & precision
Professional writing standards
Why It’s Hard
Most applicants haven’t practiced professional writing since school. The RCMP expects clear, concise, error-free communication—similar to what is needed when writing police reports.
What to Expect
Fixing incorrect or unclear sentences
Choosing the most precise statement
Identifying grammar and punctuation errors
Rewriting for clarity
2. Reading Comprehension
Difficulty: ★★★☆☆ (Moderate)
Why It’s Challenging
The exam is fast-paced
Passages are long and dense
Answers often look similar
You must extract meaning under time pressure
What to Expect
Summaries
Main-idea identification
Inference questions
Tone & purpose
Argument evaluation
Strong readers do well. Others get overwhelmed or run out of time quickly.
3. Deductive Reasoning (Business Reasoning)
Difficulty: ★★★★★ (Hardest Section)
This is the section that makes many people say the RCMP Entrance Exam is hard.
This section tests your ability to:
Apply logic rules
Solve multi-step problems
Recognize patterns
Determine whether statements are true, false, or possible
Why It’s the #1 Failed Section
Multi-step reasoning is required
Diagramming is often necessary
Guessing does not work
This section mimics real police decision-making
Deductive reasoning is the single most failed part of the exam.
4. Inductive Reasoning (Business Reasoning)
Difficulty: ★★★★☆ (High)
This section requires you to take specific examples and identify the rule or pattern that connects them.
Why Candidates Find It Hard
It’s abstract
It doesn’t resemble school-based testing
It requires rapid pattern recognition
What You’ll See
Symbol sequences
Pattern completion
Categorization
5. Memory & Observational Skills (Memory Quotient)
Difficulty: ★★☆☆☆ (Easier)
This section contributes to RCMP exam difficulty only if you panic or fail to observe details carefully.
You will briefly view an image or list of details, then be tested on it later.
Why It’s Easier
No complex reasoning
Straightforward recall
Visual learners often excel
Still, rushing or poor focus can hurt your score.
6. Situational Judgment (Workstyle Preference / SJT)
Difficulty: ★★★★☆ (Challenging)
This is one of the main reasons people ask how hard the RCMP Entrance Exam is.
This section tests judgment in real policing scenarios, including:
Ethics
Professionalism
Discretion
Conflict resolution
Accountability
Communication under pressure
Why It’s Difficult
There’s no “perfect” answer—only the most appropriate RCMP-aligned answer. Without training, most applicants choose incorrectly.
Why Many People Fail the RCMP Entrance Exam
They underestimate how hard the RCMP exam really is
Weak grammar and writing skills
No timed practice
Lack of structured logic training
Poor understanding of police-style situational expectations
Stress and test panic
Is the RCMP Exam Harder Than the CBSA OTEE or OACP?
Generally, yes.
The RCMP exam contains:
More complex reasoning
More reading analysis
Higher grammar expectations
More difficult situational judgment
If you can pass the RCMP Entrance Exam, you are usually well prepared for OTEE and OACP.
How to Make the RCMP Entrance Exam Much Easier
Based on coaching thousands of applicants:
✅ Practice under real exam conditions
Timer, format, logic puzzles, SJT—this matters.
✅ Master logic sections
Logic becomes predictable with training.
✅ Improve your grammar now
Many applicants don’t realize how heavily grammar is weighted.
✅ Understand RCMP scoring for SJT
This alone gives a massive advantage.
✅ Build consistency with short daily practice
Even 10–15 minutes per day boosts retention and speed.
Final Verdict: So, How Hard Is the RCMP Entrance Exam?
The RCMP Entrance Exam is challenging—but absolutely passable with preparation.
If you strengthen your logic, reading, writing, situational judgment, and test-timing skills, you will walk into the assessment far more prepared than most candidates.
Want to Pass on Your First Attempt?
anEDGE is Canada’s #1 RCMP preparation team, built by former RCMP members and professional law-enforcement recruiters.
We offer:
Situational Judgment coaching
Grammar & writing improvement
Logic and reasoning drills
Step-by-step exam prep plans
Your competition is preparing—make sure you are too.