Welcome to the Examination Module

To fulfill the certification requirements, each candidate must successfully pass a comprehensive written examination covering major facets of the role of SWAT operator.  The examination consists of questions compiled by subject matter experts on topics considered essential for a competent SWAT operator.  The questions are all true/false, multiple choice or matching.  There are no “fill in the blanks.”

There are eleven topical areas arranged in three broad categories.  The topics were identified from examinations given by California POST certified providers of basic SWAT schools.  The questions are not equally distributed by topic, however, and there may be as many as twenty questions on one topic and only two for others.  This “profile” is designed to allow the CATO Board of Certification to “tune” the examination to reflect current concerns.  The profile is reviewed and revised each calendar year.

You may take the test as many times as necessary to successfully complete it.  There are no penalties for failing and no record is kept of the number of attempts.  Moreover, you may take it at any time during the certification process.  While there is only one profile, there may be several different versions of the test and repetitions will not duplicate previous attempts.  In short, there is no way to teach “to the test.”

Your Examination Today

• 50 true/false or multiple choice questions.

  Choose the best  Do not read into them.  There are no trick questions and there are no penalties for wrong answers

• Time limit is two hours. Your time will start when you hit the “submit” button and must complete the questions within the time limit.

• If you successfully complete the examination, you will be notified immediately and the CATO Board of Certification Proctor will automatically be notified.