Physical Measurement Test (PMT) & Physical Efficiency Test (PET)
What PMT and PET test
The Physical Measurement Test (PMT) and Physical Efficiency Test (PET) come after the PWT shortlist. PMT checks whether your body measurements meet the notified standard; PET checks whether you can complete the prescribed running event within the cut-off. Both are qualifying: neither adds marks to the final merit.
PMT standards
For SI (Civil), the commonly notified standards are:
- Men: height 168 cm; chest 86 cm with a minimum 5 cm expansion.
- Women: height 152 cm; weight 45 kg. Measurements are taken barefoot; chest is recorded in the relaxed state and again on full inhalation. The expansion, not just the inflated figure, must meet the standard.
PET
The headline event is a 1600 m run for men and an 800 m run for women, to be completed within the board's prescribed time. It is pass/fail. You are not ranked by how fast you finish, only by whether you finish inside the limit.
Worked example
A male candidate measures 86 cm chest relaxed and 90 cm expanded. Expansion = 90 − 86 = 4 cm, which is below the required 5 cm, so he fails PMT even though his inflated chest is 90 cm. If he had measured 85 cm relaxed and 90 cm expanded, expansion = 5 cm and the expansion standard would be met, but 85 cm relaxed would still be below the 86 cm minimum. Both the absolute and expansion figures must pass.
Traps
- Measuring height with shoes or thick socks.
- Recording chest only at full inhalation.
- Starting the run too fast and fading; the cut-off is a finish time, not a split.
- Assuming PET marks are added to FWE merit.
- Missing the medical certificate or original documents on the PET day.