Drug Enforcement Administration

DEA Fitness Calculator

Physical Task Assessment (PTA)

Sit-ups
Maximum reps in 1 minute
Push-ups
Maximum continuous · untimed, to exhaustion
1.5-Mile Run
Timed · lower is better · points doubled during hiring
The events run back to back with short rest, and the push-ups are untimed, so you work to failure. Warm up fully and stop if you feel chest pain or dizziness.
How to Perform It

Four Events, in Order

Sit-ups, a 300-meter sprint, push-ups, then a 1.5-mile run, with no more than 10 minutes of rest between events. The sprint is run at the DEA Academy only, not during hiring. The images below show the positions that decide whether a repetition counts, and one fault in each strength event that does not.

The Test Day

The events run in this order.

  1. Sit-ups

    As many as you can in 1 minute · continuous motion

    Lower until both shoulder blades touch the ground, then curl up until your elbows pass the tops of your knees.

  2. Up to 10 minutes rest

  3. 300-Meter Sprint

    Academy only · timed in seconds and tenths

    Start standing, without touching the ground with your hands, and stay in your lane the whole way.

    If you train on a track: 300 meters is three-quarters of a lap in lane 1 of a 400-meter track. Start at the beginning of the back straight and run to the finish line.

  4. Up to 10 minutes rest

  5. Push-ups

    Untimed · continuous motion

    Do as many correct push-ups as you can without stopping. Lower until your upper arms, shoulders, and lower back are parallel to the ground, then lock your elbows at the top.

  6. Up to 10 minutes rest

  7. 1.5-Mile Run

    For time · run points count double during hiring

    Cover the distance as fast as you can on a track of known length.

    If you train on a track: 1.5 miles is 2,414 meters, which is six laps plus about 14 meters on a 400-meter track, or exactly six laps on a quarter-mile (440-yard) track.

To pass: score at least 12 points in total, with at least 1 point in every event and no negative score. During hiring the test has three events, with no sprint, and the 1.5-mile run points count double.

Sit-Ups

Knees bent at about 90 degrees, feet flat, and a partner holding your feet. The sequence is shown from the side.

Front view illustration of the arm position for the DEA Physical Task Assessment sit-up: a woman sits on the floor with her knees bent, her arms crossed over her chest in an X, and each hand resting flat on top of the opposite shoulder. DEA requires the hands to stay in full contact with the opposite shoulders throughout the event, without grabbing the shirt.
Arm position · Front view

Arms Crossed, Hands on the Opposite Shoulders

Cross your arms over your chest with each hand flat on top of the opposite shoulder, and keep your hands in full contact with your shoulders on every repetition, without grabbing your shirt. Other tests use different positions: the ATF laces the fingers behind the neck, and the Border Patrol places the hands behind the head.

Side view illustration of the start position for the DEA Physical Task Assessment sit-up: a woman lies flat on her back with both shoulder blades on the floor and her arms crossed over her chest, each hand flat on the opposite shoulder. Her knees are bent at about 90 degrees with her feet flat, and a kneeling partner grips her ankles.
1 · Start

Shoulder Blades Down

Lie back until both shoulder blades touch the ground, arms crossed, while your partner holds your feet.

Side view illustration of the top of a completed DEA Physical Task Assessment sit-up: a woman sits with her trunk leaning forward, her arms crossed with each hand flat on the opposite shoulder, and her elbows raised over the tops of her knees, breaking the vertical line above them. Her buttocks stay on the floor while a kneeling partner grips her ankles.
2 · Top

Elbows Past the Knees

Curl up until your elbows break the vertical plane above the tops of your knees. Your hands stay on your shoulders while your elbows reach forward. Lower until your shoulder blades touch: one repetition.

Side view illustration of a sit-up that does not count in the DEA Physical Task Assessment: the woman has stopped with her trunk upright and her arms crossed, each hand on the opposite shoulder, but her elbows remain well behind her knees. DEA requires the elbows to break the vertical plane by passing the tops of the knees.
Doesn’t count

Stopping Short

If your elbows stay behind the tops of your knees, the repetition doesn’t count.

Push-Ups

Hands just outside the line of your shoulders, and feet no more than 8 inches apart. Shown from the side.

Side view illustration of the up position of a DEA Physical Task Assessment push-up: a man holds his body in a straight line from head to heels, with his elbows fully straight and locked and his hands flat on the floor below his shoulders.
1 · Up

Up, Elbows Locked

Start with your elbows locked and your body straight from head to heels.

Side view illustration of the down position of a DEA Physical Task Assessment push-up: the man has lowered his body in a straight line from head to heels until his chest is just above the floor, past the point where his upper arms are parallel to the ground. His elbows are bent and point back toward his feet.
2 · Down

Upper Arms at Least Parallel

Lower until your upper arms, shoulders, and lower back are at least parallel to the ground, then push back up to locked elbows. That is one repetition.

Side view illustration of a push-up that does not count in the DEA Physical Task Assessment: the man's chest is raised on nearly straight arms, but his hips and thighs have sagged down to floor level, so his body no longer forms a straight line from head to heels. DEA requires a straight body throughout and does not allow the pelvis or thighs to touch the ground.
Doesn’t count

Hips on the Ground

Letting your hips or thighs drop to the ground breaks the straight body line, so the repetition doesn’t count.

Based on DEA’s PTA Guide (February 2023) and its Special Agent Test Preparation Guide. Some requirements can’t be shown in a still image: both strength events require continuous motion, with no resting between repetitions; during sit-ups your hips and buttocks stay on the ground and your hands must not grab your shirt; during push-ups your knees, pelvis, stomach, and thighs must not touch the ground, and you may not move your hands or feet; and in the sprint, touching the ground with your hands at the start or stepping into another lane fails the event.

Video Demonstration

The PTA, from DEA

The Drug Enforcement Administration’s own walkthrough of the Physical Task Assessment, recorded in March 2023.

Video is external and not produced by Amatal. It was recorded in March 2023, and DEA changed its hiring pass standard for announcements released in July 2026, so use the calculator above for current scoring. For DEA’s exact wording behind each rule, see the “How to Perform It” guide above — follow the written rules where the two differ.

Disclaimer

This tool scores your performance on the DEA Physical Task Assessment (PTA) — the points-based fitness test every Special Agent applicant must pass — and tells you whether your results clear the standard for the hiring or academy version. It is a training and self-assessment aid only: not affiliated with the DEA, not an official score, and not medical or training advice. The PTA stacks maximal-effort sit-ups and push-ups, a timed run, and (at the academy) an all-out 300-meter sprint, which is genuinely demanding. Warm up, use strict form, and stop if you feel chest pain, dizziness, or joint pain. If you have a heart condition, a recent injury, or any condition aggravated by intense exertion — or if you are at all unsure — check with a healthcare provider before testing.

How This Calculator Works

This calculator scores the DEA Physical Task Assessment (PTA) — the fitness test that gates the Special Agent selection process. You choose the version of the test, enter your sex and your event results, and the tool converts each event to a point value on the DEA's scale, adds them into a cumulative total, and checks the result against the pass rule for that version. It also shows the full scoring chart with the exact cell your result lands on for each event.

The PTA is points-based rather than simple pass/fail: a strong event can partly offset a weaker one. But two features quietly do most of the failing — a negative score and a minimum-points floor — which the calculator surfaces directly.

The direction of "better" depends on the event: for sit-ups and push-ups, more reps are better; for the 300-meter sprint and the 1.5-mile run, a lower time is better.

The Two Versions

The PTA is administered in two slightly different forms, and this calculator does both:

  • Applicant — Hiring PTA. The test you take during the hiring process. It has three events: sit-ups, push-ups, and the 1.5-mile run. The 300-meter sprint is not used during hiringThe 300m is part of the academy (BAT) test but is deliberately left out of the hiring version. The DEA's own training video covers it as preparation for the academy., and the 1.5-mile run points are doubled.
  • Academy — BAT PTA. The version run at Basic Agent TrainingThe DEA Academy in Quantico, Virginia. Trainees must pass PTAs during the program to graduate. The PTA is also used to select Special Response Team (SRT) candidates and as the annual fitness requirement for division teams.. It adds the 300-meter sprint as a fourth event, and the 1.5-mile run is not doubled.

The Events & Protocol

The events run in a fixed order — sit-ups, 300-meter sprint, push-ups, 1.5-mile run — with no more than 10 minutes of rest between each. Strict protocol is what makes a score comparable to the standard:

  • Sit-ups — one minute, continuous. A partner holds the feet; hands stay on the opposite shoulders, the elbows must pass the knees, and the shoulder blades touch the floor on the way down. There is no resting between sit-upsDEA's protocol: "There is to be no resting between sit-ups and all activity must be continuous." A repetition that breaks the protocol does not count..
  • 300-Meter Sprint (academy only) — an all-out effort from a standing start, three-quarters of one lapDEA runs it on an oval track of known length. You must start standing without touching the ground with your hands, and stay in your lane the whole way — stepping into another lane fails the event. of a 400-meter track.
  • Push-ups — continuous and untimed, performed to exhaustion. Each rep lowers until the upper arms are parallel to the floor; there is no resting between reps.
  • 1.5-Mile Run — a timed run on a track of known length. On a 400-meter track that is six laps plus about 14 meters.

How the Test Is Scored

Each event is scored on a scale from −2 to 10 points, and the points are summed into a total out of 40. The pass rule depends on the version — and, within hiring, on how far along you are:

Hiring (announcement released July 2026): total 12+, at least 1 point in every event, and no negative score.
Academy (BAT): total 12+, at least 1 point in every event, no negatives.

DEA notes that applicants under announcements released before July 2026 may have a different standard. The earlier version of its guide set the bar for a Conditional Offer at 9+ total, with a zero allowed in one event, at least 1 point in the others, and no negatives, followed by 12+ for the Final Offer. The calculator uses the current 12-point rule.

The Two Ways the Score Bites

Two features punish weakness rather than just rewarding strength. First, a −2A negative score is given for performance below the zero-point threshold on an event. Because it's negative, it doesn't just fail that event — it drags down your cumulative total. in any single event is an automatic failure of the whole test, no matter how strong everything else is. Second, even with no negatives you must reach 12 points and score at least 1 point in every event — so a single neglected event can sink an otherwise strong showing.

Why the Run Counts Double (in Hiring)

In the hiring version, your 1.5-mile run points are doubled before being added to the total — a score of 4 on the run contributes 8 points. DEA states the doubling applies during the hiring process only and does not give a reason for it. The calculator shows the doubling inline in the breakdown so the math is transparent. At the academy, where the 300-meter sprint is added, the run is scored straight (not doubled).

Sex-Specific, Not Age-Graded

The PTA uses different tables for men and women, but it is not age-graded: a 22-year-old and a 35-year-old applicant are held to exactly the same numbers. DEA does not publish its reasons for this design, and the calculator applies the published standard as written.

How to Read the Scoring Chart

The chart lists every point value from 10 down to −2, with one column per event in the selected version, showing the exact performance band that earns each score. After you calculate, the calculator highlights the specific cell your result landed on in each column at once — so you can see not just your score but how far the next point is in each event. Because the test is not age-graded, there is a single chart per sex; switching versions adds or removes the 300-meter column.

A Note on Data Accuracy

The DEA tables in this calculator are exact, reproduced verbatim from Appendix A of DEA’s Special Agent Test Preparation Guide — nothing is estimated or interpolated. One quirk in the source: the men’s 300-meter table lists 49.5 seconds in both the 2-point and 3-point bands. The calculator awards 3 points at exactly 49.5 seconds. The earlier version of the guide also listed cut scores, minimum marks on a failed first attempt that decided whether an applicant could retest; this tool scores the pass standard, not retest thresholds.

One honest caveat: agencies revise fitness standards periodically. Treat a result here as an accurate read of the published tables at the time of writing, and confirm the current standard on dea.gov or with your DEA recruitment coordinator before relying on it.

Why These Fitness Qualities Matter

The events sample distinct, job-relevant capacities. Sit-ups and push-ups measure core and upper-body muscular endurance — the ability to work repeatedly under fatigue. The 300-meter sprint taxes the anaerobic systemThe glycolytic energy pathway that fuels maximal effort lasting roughly 30–90 seconds — the window of an explosive foot pursuit or a sudden physical confrontation. that powers an explosive foot pursuit, and the 1.5-mile run measures the aerobic endurance to sustain effort over time. The points-plus-floor scoring rewards a well-rounded performer, which is exactly what surviving Basic Agent Training requires.

Their strengths are objectivity and repeatability — minimal equipment, clear protocols, easy to retest. Their limit is that they're a general fitness screen, not a simulation of agent work: a strong score proves a solid physical base, not job competence by itself.

Data Sources and Methodology

The structure, rules, and scoring in this calculator are drawn from official DEA materials:

  • DEA Entry-Level Special Agent Test Preparation Guide — Appendix A (Physical Task Assessment Scoring Tables), dea.gov (file posted July 2026). The full −2-to-10 point tables for sit-ups, the 300-meter sprint, push-ups, and the 1.5-mile run; the hiring-vs-academy event lists; the doubling of run points during hiring; and the hiring pass rule for the announcement released July 2026 (12+, 1+ in every event, no negatives).
  • DEA Special Agent Test Preparation Guide, earlier version (dea.gov). The previous Conditional Offer rule (9+, a zero in at most one event) and the retest cut scores.
  • DEA PTA Guide (dea.gov, February 2023). The fixed event order, the up-to-10-minute rest between events, the academy pass rule, and the detailed movement protocols for each event, including untimed push-ups.

A note on methodology: the point tables here are reproduced exactly, not modeled. The calculator applies the official pass rule for each version; the only judgment it makes is awarding 3 points at the 49.5-second overlap in the men’s 300-meter table.

Limitations and Important Caveats

  • Not an official result. Only a DEA-administered PTA produces an official score. This tool is for self-assessment and planning.
  • Standards can change. Confirm the current tables on dea.gov or with a DEA recruitment coordinator before relying on a result.
  • The −2 trap. A negative score in any single event fails the entire test, regardless of your total — train every event above the zero threshold.
  • Fatigue is real. On test day the events run in sequence with limited rest; fresh, isolated attempts usually overstate your true PTA result.
  • Protocol fidelity. Strict sit-up and push-up form, a standing-start sprint, and a measured run are what make your numbers comparable to the standard.
  • Limited attempts. DEA communicates the number of attempts and the time allowed during hiring, and you may be required to pass another PTA before being hired.
  • Earlier announcements. If you applied under an announcement released before July 2026, your scoring standard may differ from the 12-point rule used here.

Disclaimer:
This calculator provides an estimate based on the publicly available DEA Physical Task Assessment scoring standards and is intended for general informational and training-reference purposes only. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or an official tool of the DEA, and it does not produce an official score. The PTA involves maximal-effort calisthenics, a timed run, and (at the academy) an all-out sprint performed in sequence; stop immediately if you experience chest pain, shortness of breath, dizziness, or joint pain. This tool is not medical, fitness, or training advice. Consult a healthcare provider before beginning a new exercise or testing program, especially if you have a heart condition, a recent injury, or any condition aggravated by intense exertion.