What official ICE documents describe the exact scoring rubric and cut-scores for the Special Agent Test Battery?
This fact-check may be outdated. Consider refreshing it to get the most current information.
Executive summary
There is no clear official ICE document among the provided sources that publishes a detailed, item‑level scoring rubric and firm cut‑scores for the Special Agent Test Battery; the closest official materials are preparation guides that describe test content, sample items, and some scoring principles but do not enumerate exact pass/fail cut points in the documents reviewed [1] [2]. Third‑party test‑prep vendors and aggregator sites commonly state numeric cutoffs (for example, “about 70%”) but those figures appear in non‑official guides and practice sites, not in ICE’s own preparation manual or pre‑hire assessment packet provided here [3] [4] [5].
1. What the official ICE preparation manual actually contains
The Preparation Manual for the ICE Special Agent Test Battery (the “satestprep.pdf”) published on ICE’s site is an official document that lays out test sections, sample questions, test formats, and explanatory material intended to prepare applicants, but the manual does not publish an itemized scoring rubric with cut‑scores for each subtest or the precise numeric thresholds for passing the battery in the excerpts provided [1].
2. The CI/Homeland Security Investigations prep guide: content vs. cut scores
ICE’s “Preparation Guide for Homeland Security Investigations (HSI)” and related criminal investigator pre‑hire assessment materials describe the criminal investigator pre‑hire assessments and provide illustrative scenarios and practice content, yet do not, in the portions supplied here, disclose a definitive scoring matrix or official cut‑score table that assigns pass/fail values to specific subtests [2].
3. Where fitness and administrative standards are explicit
Separate official ICE materials do set clear pass/fail standards for non‑cognitive elements of the selection process—for example, the Physical Fitness Test (PFT) standards and instructions are published by ICE and set concrete fitness expectations for Special Agent applicants [6] [7]. Those fitness standards are distinct from the written/psychometric Special Agent Test Battery and do represent an example of official cut‑score/standard publication within ICE materials [6] [7].
4. Third‑party sites claiming numeric cut‑scores are not ICE official documentation
Several commercial and exam‑prep websites assert specific numeric thresholds (for instance, statements that Phase II typically requires an overall passing score around 70%), but those claims appear in practice guides and vendor pages rather than in the ICE documents provided; therefore they should be treated as secondary reporting or interpretation rather than primary official policy disclosure [3] [4] [5].
5. What the evidence supports about transparency and what is missing
The available official ICE documents shared here transparently describe test format, sample items, and procedural guidance, but they stop short of publishing an exact scoring rubric and fixed cut‑scores for the Special Agent Test Battery within the excerpts reviewed; if an exact rubric or cut‑score table exists in ICE records, it was not present in the supplied preparation manual or HSI prep guide [1] [2].
6. Implications for applicants and researchers seeking exact numbers
Applicants relying on the provided official ICE materials should use the satestprep.pdf and the CI prep guide to understand item types, time limits, and writing sample expectations while treating third‑party numeric thresholds as estimates; researchers seeking official cut‑scores would need to request more specific policy documents or files from ICE (for example through FOIA) because the official preparation documents here do not provide the detailed cut‑score matrix [1] [2] [7].