Written Communication Test

POLICE CONSTABLE 

SELECTION 

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Written 

Communication 

Test 

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Candidate 

Orientation and Pretest 

Guide 

© Copyright Queen's Printer for Ontario, 1998. Reproduced with permission. Confidential 

WRITTEN COMMUNICATION TEST

Introduction 

Orientation and Pretest Guide 

This document is intended to provide information and guidance to you in preparing for and 

writing the Written Communication Test (WCT). The WCT is one of the many assessment tools 

which will be administered to you during the course of the selection process. 

Observing, understanding and expressing are important skills in everyday police work. Police 

officers are often required to examine the complex scene of an incident, make relevant 

observations, interview witnesses or parties to an incident, prepare accurate and adequate written 

reports, and use and defend the contents of the reports before senior officers or before the courts. 

Good written reports satisfy requirements of form and style (grammar, spelling, punctuation, 

coherence of layout, etc.) but also reflect the ability to put facts together in order to make some 

preliminary sense of an incident. Usually, this preliminary sense or conclusion is the basis for 

decisions regarding further investigation, legal proceedings, etc. 

In what follows, you will learn about the Written Communication Test which you are required to 

pass. You will also have the opportunity to practice your skills with a sample test; remember 

that the sample test is not the real test and your performance here is not necessarily an indication 

of how you will do the actual Written Communication Test. 

The WRITTEN COMMUNICATION TEST (WCT) 

You will be presented with a written scenario. It consists of facts or pieces of evidence which 

are in a jumbled or unorganized form. Given one hour, you will draw from this scenario a list of 

facts, and then write an essay describing what actually took place. There is only one correct 

explanation regarding what actually took place; there is little room for speculation. 

Your performance will be scored in terms of the following criteria, all of which must be met: 

Comprehensiveness: completeness and relevance of the facts you have listed; 

Conclusion: your ability to re-organize the main details of the scenario and put facts 

together to arrive at conclusions about what happened and the role of various parties 

involved. 

Technical: normal requirements for good writing, eg., grammar, spelling, punctuation, 

sentence structure. 

Legibility: the clarity and readability of your written work, which is affected by 

formation of letters and words, spacing of words, etc. 

The test is administered usually in a classroom setting, meaning that you will likely be 

part of a group of candidates writing the test at the same time. A proctor will be 

available to answer any questions which you may have. 

WCT Orientation and Pretest Guide 

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You will be provided with the necessary paper and pencil for writing. All documents, 

including your scrap notes, must be left on your desk; nothing must be taken from the 

room. 

It is advisable that you arrive approximately 15 minutes early, rested and prepared for the 

test. 

Practice Test 

The following practice test is meant to help you familiarize yourself with the requirements which 

you are expected to meet. Remember that the practice test is only a sample and your performance 

here is not necessarily reflective of how you will actually score on the Written Communication 

Test. 

Instructions 

Put yourself in the role of a police constable at the scene described below. Read the scenario very 

carefully. The information has not been organized. Based on your observations and comments from 

witnesses, prepare a report for your supervisor in the following manner: 

1. List, in point form, all the facts you think are important. You may use the following headings: 

time, location and evidence at the scene. 

2. In essay form, reconstruct what you think happened, drawing on the information you have listed. 

Clearly demonstrate how the facts you have chosen support your view of the incident. 

You should be careful with your spelling and grammar. 


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Scenario: 

A blue Jeep was on the other side of the street from the Mazda. It is June 13. Ms. Helen Elogar 

parked her car facing west at 10:20 a.m. When she returned to her car, Ms. Elogar found the paint 

on her driver's door had been scratched. The owner of a grey Chevette had parked his car at 10:30 

a.m. A blue Jeep was parked, facing east. Most of the parking spaces were blocked by craft 

displays. There was a shopping cart overturned in the street, beside a grey Chevette. There was a 

large community sale being conducted in front of the stores. A red Mazda was parked in front of the 

Coarville Pharmacy. The police were notified of the damage at 10:52 a.m. A Chevette was parked 

in front of the Mazda. Traffic was detouring around a shopping cart which was blocking the 

westbound lane. The pharmacy is at 342 Elm Street. It was a very windy day. There were a lot of 

people on the sidewalk. All of Ms. Elogar's purchases were in her car. There were only three 

vehicles parked along the street. There was red paint evident on the front right corner of the 

shopping cart. The owner of the grey Chevette said he had parked in front of the red Mazda, and 

that he had taken the last available parking spot. He stated that the shopping cart was not there when 

he pulled in. 


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Answer Key 

In order to complete the "report" regarding this occurrence, you will need to: 

� gather the information; 

� decide what information is important to the investigation of the occurrence; 

� organize the information in broad categories, such as time, location, evidence at the 

scene; 

and, 

� draw your conclusions as to what happened. 

It may be helpful to go through the scenario and make a list on scrap paper of the facts which are 

important and then make your interpretations and conclusions based on this list. To make this 

practice scenario easier for you, very few non-relevant pieces of information have been included. 

Pay attention to each fact which has been presented in the scenario and try to link facts together 

to make it easy to make a judgement as to what happened. When you have come to a conclusion 

about what events happened and in what order they happened, check it against the facts 

presented, just to be sure you have not assumed anything. 

Developing a point form outline before you write your final copy may save you time. Check the 

clock occasionally, to make sure you are not taking too long to complete this question. You will 

be given one hour to complete this test, so don’t spend so long on the point form list that you run 

out of time, before you have completed the essay. Try to allow yourself time to check your 

work; correct any spelling or grammar mistakes you find. 

The following is an example of the type of answer expected. Please remember that you may have a 

different writing style or that you may view the facts differently. The aim is to express your ideas 

clearly and to support your version of the events with the facts provided. 


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Important Facts: 

Time 

Location 

• June 13 

• 10:52 a.m. - call received 

• 10:20 a.m. - Mazda parked 

• 10:30 a.m. - Chevette parked 

• parking space in front of 342 Elm St., Coarville 

Evidence at the scene 

Other 

Report: 

• red Mazda parked behind grey Chevette 

• driver's door scratched on Elogar's car 

• shopping cart overturned in street 

• a lot of people on sidewalk 

• red paint evident on front right corner of shopping cart 

• windy day 

The damage to Ms. Elogar's car, a red Mazda, occurred between 10:30 a.m. and 10:52 a.m. on June 13, 

in front of the Coarville Pharmacy at 342 Elm Street. Since the shopping cart was overturned beside the 

Chevette, and was blocking the lane, the Chevette would have been unable to park around it. The owner 

of the Chevette said he had parked in front of the Mazda at 10:30 a.m. Therefore, the incident must have 

occurred after 10:30 a.m. since the call was received by the police at 10:52 a.m. 

The most likely explanation for the damage is that the shopping cart had been left on the street, and the 

wind then pushed it into Ms. Elogar's car. The impact of this then slowed the shopping cart, and perhaps 

set it off balance, so that it fell over into the street, beside the Chevette. As there were a lot of people on 

the sidewalk, it is very likely that someone would have seen the incident, and could verify this theory 

Once again, familiarize yourself with these types of questions in order to be well-prepared for your 

testing session. 


GOOD LUCK 

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Written Communication Test

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