HP Police negative marking: why a blank answer costs you, and what option E does

The HP Police written test has a rule that catches many candidates. Every question has options A, B, C and D, plus a fifth option E for "I do not want to answer".

The rule, from the notification

• Right answer: +1
• Wrong answer: −0.25
• More than one circle filled: −0.25, even if one of them is right
• Left blank: −0.25
• Option E filled: 0

So 10 questions left blank cost you 2.5 marks for nothing. Never leave a circle empty: fill E if you are skipping.

When is guessing worth it?

This is simple probability, worked out for +1 and −0.25:

• Pure guess among 4 options: on average +0.06 marks per question.
• You can rule out one option: on average +0.17.
• You can rule out two options: on average +0.38.

The average is on your side, and much more so once you can remove even one option. A single guess can still go wrong, so use this as a habit over the paper, not a promise on one question.

How to practise it

In your mocks, note which questions you guessed and check how those guesses did. Your Score Delta analysis shows marks lost to negative marking. Our online mocks do not have an OMR sheet, so keep the E habit in mind for the real paper, and leave 10 minutes at the end to check that no circle is empty.