About This Guide (Powered by anEDGE)
This guide provides proprietary techniques and practice strategies for the assessment’s most challenging RCMP cognitive skills test. anEDGE is Canada’s premier law enforcement career preparation and coaching company, built by a team of former RCMP recruiters, police officers, and executive HR specialists. We offer personalized 1:1 RCMP Interview coaching and RCMP practice exams that mirror the exact format of the RCMP recruitment process, giving you the edge you need.
While the Business Reasoning section tests your judgment, the Memory Quotient and Spatial Skills sections of the RCMP Cognitive Skills Test are pure cognitive tests. They are designed to measure your raw ability to process and recall information and visualize objects under intense time pressure.
The new RCMP Online Entrance Assessment includes two sections that require focused, skills-based practice: Memory Quotient and Spatial Skills. Success in these areas requires specific techniques, not just general knowledge.
1. Excelling in the Memory Quotient Section of the RCMP Cognitive Skills Test
The RCMP Cognitive Skills Test is the core cognitive component, and the Memory Quotient measures your capacity to absorb and recall details after a brief presentation. This simulates the need for police officers to absorb incident details, descriptions, and operational facts quickly.
The Problem: Information Overload
The test presents various types of information (names, faces, numbers, locations) simultaneously. Rote memorization will fail under time pressure.
The anEDGE Solution: Strategic Encoding
Use these proven memory techniques (mnemonics) to transform data into easy-to-recall visual stories:
| Memory Technique | How to Apply It to the RCMP Test |
| Chunking | Group long sequences of numbers (e.g., license plates or addresses) into smaller, manageable units (e.g., 473-09-51 becomes “four-seventy-three” then “oh-nine-fifty-one”). |
| Method of Loci (Memory Palace) | This is essential for remembering locations and objects. Mentally “place” the items you need to recall along a familiar route (your home, a street). When asked to recall, mentally walk the route. |
| Association/Visualization | Connect names and faces to absurd or memorable visuals. If the name is “Smith” and the face has glasses, picture a blacksmith (Smith) welding his glasses to his face. The more vivid, the better. |
| Recency/Primacy Effect | Focus intensely on the first and last pieces of information presented. These are the easiest to forget or muddle when you reach the middle of the test. |
2. Mastering Spatial Skills Components
The Spatial Skills section tests your ability to visualize objects in two and three dimensions, a skill crucial for reading maps, reconstructing accident scenes, and navigating patrol routes. This component often involves mental rotation and pattern folding.
Visualization Drill: Mental Rotation
You will be shown an object and several rotated versions, asked to identify the correct match.
- The Technique: Instead of trying to spin the object as a whole, focus on two key anchor points (e.g., the top-left corner and the bottom-right hole). Track how the relationship between those two anchor points changes as you mentally rotate them to match the sample.
- Practice: Spend time daily practicing mental rotation with common household items or online cube-manipulation games. Speed is critical here.
Visualization Drill: Pattern Folding
You will be presented with a 2D pattern (a net) and asked what 3D shape it forms when folded.
- The Technique: Pick a face on the 2D pattern and designate it as your Front. Then, identify which side will become the Top and which will become the Right Side. Crucially, track the orientation of the symbols on those faces. If the arrow is pointing up on the Front, it should point to the right when it folds to the Top.
- The Key to Success: Always remember that two faces cannot be opposite each other in the 2D pattern and adjacent to each other in the 3D cube.
3. Integrating Practice and Strategy for the RCMP Cognitive Skills Test.
Success in the Memory and Spatial sections is only possible with timed, focused practice.
- Practice in Blocks: Don’t practice for hours. Dedicate 15-20 minutes to each skill, using a timer, and push yourself to complete more questions in less time.
- Simulate the Stress: Do your practice tests in a quiet room, but use the clock as a source of pressure, just as you will experience in the actual assessment.
This type of strategic, targeted training is what separates a prepared candidate from one who simply took a few free quizzes.
Ready to apply these techniques to a full simulation? Click the link below to access our comprehensive practice exam, which features timed, high-fidelity Memory Quotient and Spatial Skills sections, designed to prepare you for the RCMP Entrance Assessment.