Pass911 FAQ: CritiCall Practice, Results, Pricing and Refunds
Straight answers about the CritiCall® test, how our practice works, what our scores mean and what you pay. The awkward questions too.
The test
What test does Pass911 prepare me for?
CritiCall, the computerized work-sample test that 911 centers use to screen dispatcher and call-taker applicants. Biddle Consulting Group builds it; your hiring agency picks the modules from over 20 tests, sets its own cut-off and owns your scores. Our guide covers the modules, length and scoring: what the CritiCall test is.
Which modules will I take?
The ones your agency picks. Published batteries run from 3 modules (Scottsdale) to 15 (San Diego, 2011); RCMP Alberta lists 8, and Newton and Cambridge list 11. Check your invitation and the agency's posting. Pass911 covers 13: emergency messages, written and audio data entry, keyboarding, call summarization, map reading, memory recall, cross referencing, prioritization, reading comprehension, spelling, sentence clarity and character comparison. On Elite, "Build your own" lets you tick the modules your invitation names, from the 13 we cover.
Does the CritiCall test cost anything?
Testing is free where agencies say so; Tarrant County 9-1-1 District, for example, tests free of charge for its member agencies. We found no retake fee on any agency page we read. Pass911 is optional practice, separate from the test.
Is Pass911 connected to Biddle or to my agency?
No. Pass911 is an independent practice tool, not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by Biddle Consulting Group, Inc. or any hiring agency. CritiCall® and TestGenius® are trademarks of Biddle Consulting Group, Inc. We use the name only to say which test we help you practice for.
I'm applying in Canada. Does this apply to me?
Yes. It's the same test, used by Canadian employers including the RCMP (9-1-1 police dispatchers in British Columbia and Alberta, Telecommunications Operators nationally), the Windsor Police Service in Ontario and the Winnipeg Police Service in Manitoba. Each sets its own rules, so RCMP BC asks for 40 wpm with less than 5% errors and a pass in every module, while Windsor asks for 70% and 40 wpm. Pass911 works the same from Canada, with prices shown in USD, and our guide to the CritiCall test in Canada covers each employer's rules.
Practicing on Pass911
Are these questions taken from the CritiCall test?
No. Biddle doesn't release CritiCall's items. It says there is "no 'practice test' for CritiCall" and that it "absolutely cannot give out the demo to the applicants" Biddle's applicant FAQ. We don't have the test's questions, and no prep site should claim to. Every rule, record, call, map and passage on Pass911 is written by us, with fictional people and places. What we reproduce is the format Biddle and the agencies publish: emergency messages on a 15-second clock with four choices, upper-case fields in Biddle's published order, dictated records that start in screen order and then jump around. Before our emergency messages shipped, each one was sorted again blind, without our answer key.
How does a Pass911 run work?
In the shape Biddle describes: optional practice items come first, untimed and not counted, and then the timed section starts. Unanswered items count as wrong, fields take upper case and there's no calculator. The timings are ours: 10 minutes per module, 16 for multitask data entry, 5 for keyboarding. Biddle publishes no per-module timings, so we sized ours from the session lengths agencies publish. Typed call summaries are AI-scored against a rubric modeled on the published criteria.
How should I prepare with Pass911?
Read Biddle's free candidate guide, take our free run, then drill the modules your agency lists, typing and data entry first. Our 7-day CritiCall prep plan lays it out day by day.
Can I practice on my phone?
Not the runs. CritiCall is a keyboard-and-headset test, so our runs need a computer with a physical keyboard. On a phone you can read the guides, create your free account and tap "Email me the link" to open your run on a computer later. Practice on the keyboard you'll test on: Palo Alto, Newton and Cambridge advise a familiar keyboard with a 10-key number pad over a flat laptop keyboard.
Do I need headphones? Can I replay the audio?
You need headphones or speakers for the audio modules, which open with a device check: a test tone and a volume setting. In timed sections each clip plays once. Practice items let you replay, and a timed run with practice replay switched on counts as practice only, outside percentiles. Why once? Biddle doesn't say whether CritiCall audio can be replayed, so we use the stricter setting. On test day, spoken information comes over a headset with adjustable volume; at home you bring your own (Palo Alto requires a computer with speakers), and in-person sites typically provide headsets.
Scores and results
Is my Pass911 score a CritiCall score?
No. Every results screen opens with the same line: "Practice score from our model — not a CritiCall result. Agencies set their own cut-offs, and most never show candidates a score." We score each module our way (percent correct with unanswered items wrong, net wpm for typing, net keystrokes per hour plus field accuracy for data entry) and band it against the bars agencies publish: Above the bar (80% or more), In the range (70–79%), Below the range (under 70%). Typing bands read Clears 40 wpm, Clears 35 wpm, Clears 30 wpm or Below 30 wpm. Data entry gets no band, because no agency we found publishes a data-entry bar. The method, with its version and date, is public: how our practice scoring works.
When do I see a percentile?
Once a module has 30 completed runs on Pass911. Until then, your results screen shows your score and, where one applies, its band, under the label "Practice score from our model — not a CritiCall result. Agencies set their own cut-offs, and most never show candidates a score." Percentiles are part of Elite, and runs that used audio replay don't count toward them.
Pricing and access
What's free?
Three things. One full run of audio data entry with emergency messages on top, the module agencies such as Scottsdale list as Data Entry Multi-Tasking (Audio): sign up free, no card, and you get your result plus the first three records of your review. Our 911 dispatcher typing test, which needs no account; signed out, your results aren't saved. And, once you're signed in, the keyboarding drill; typing runs never use up your free run.
What do Starter and Elite include?
Starter, $39: every module as a drill, as often as you like, with item-by-item review. Elite, $69: everything in Starter, plus full timed batteries ("Core battery" or "Build your own"), an overall result in two views (your weakest module and your average), and your percentile once a module has 30 completed runs. Every result carries the label "Practice score from our model — not a CritiCall result. Agencies set their own cut-offs, and most never show candidates a score." On Starter already? The Elite upgrade is $30. Prices are in USD.
Is it a subscription? How long does access last?
No subscription. One payment, 12 months of access from the day you pay. Hiring runs on agency timelines, and some agencies allow a second attempt (Palo Alto gives applicants two), so 12 months leaves room for more than one sitting.
Can I get a refund?
Yes. Every plan comes with a 7-day money-back guarantee; the conditions are in our Terms. To ask, email [email protected]. It's a refund promise, not a promise about your result.
7-day money-back guarantee.
Privacy
What happens to my data?
We don't sell personal data or share it with advertisers. The processors we use are Supabase, Stripe, Brevo and ZeroBounce. We have no access to anyone's CritiCall account or results. Details: privacy policy.
Written by the Pass911 team. Test facts checked against Biddle Consulting Group's candidate materials and agency hiring pages on October 23, 2026.