The CBP Officer exam takes about four hours, and a failing score means a 90-day wait

CBP says the CBP Officer entrance exam includes a Logical Reasoning Test and a Writing Skills Test, and CBP's own video adds arithmetic reasoning. Our reasoning test covers reading short passages for what must be true and working with numbers in tables, and the CCAT-style test adds fast deduction practice.

CBP's logical reasoning items are its own and are longer than ours. Our tests do not cover the Writing Skills Test or the Candidate Experience Record. CBP publishes free preparation guides with sample questions, and those are the closest match. CBP does not publish the passing score in what we read.

CBP's current exam page lists three parts for CBP Officer applicants: an online Candidate Experience Record, a Writing Skills Test and a Logical Reasoning Test. A CBP hiring video describes the in-person portion as logical reasoning, arithmetic reasoning and writing skills, and an older 2018 guide also had an arithmetic section.

Prepare for all three tested skills until your scheduling notice says otherwise. Arithmetic is the cheapest to add: an hour a week of percentages, rates and simple equations covers most of what such sections ask.

CBP's 2024 guide says to use only the information in the paragraph, without any outside information whatsoever. Some questions turn the usual task around and ask which conclusion cannot be validly drawn, so read the lead-in before the options. A conclusion that is probably true still fails if the paragraph does not make it certain.

Watch the quantifiers. Words such as all, some, none and only change what follows. Our verbal reasoning questions practise the same discipline of answering only from what is stated, and the CCAT practice test adds quick deduction items.

CBP's 2024 preparation guide gives a 63-minute Writing Skills Test and an 83-minute Logical Reasoning Test, with those times as maximums. The 2018 guide listed 67 minutes for writing, 72 for logical reasoning and 76 for arithmetic. The current page simply says to allow about four hours.

The parts are spread out. CBP's careers page says the Writing Skills Test is due within 5 days of finishing the Experience Record, and the Logical Reasoning Test within 14 days of the writing test. The guide also says there is no penalty for guessing, so never leave an item blank.

CBP says a failing score brings a 90-day waiting period before you can retest. That makes the first attempt worth real preparation, because a failed sitting delays your whole application by three months.

A CBP video says results are typically emailed within about two weeks. Use that fortnight to start on the forms for the background investigation, which CBP's applicant FAQs explain, so that a pass moves straight on.

CBP describes the Writing Skills Test as multiple-choice questions on topics such as grammar and sentence structure, completed at home. The 2024 guide summarises verbs, conjunctions, adjectives and adverbs, and capitalization, and suggests English textbooks or writing handbooks for deeper study.

CBP's study guide page adds writing and logical reasoning lessons with knowledge checks, and practice tests with explanations. Work through those before anything else, then read each option slowly; wrong answers often differ from the right one by a single word.