Frequently Asked Questions
Plain answers about polygraph testing in Guildford and across Surrey: what a test costs, how accurate it is, how to prepare and what actually happens when you arrive.
Before You Book
Probably not. People do not end up on a polygraph website on a whim; by the time they get here they have usually been turning something over for months. Booking a test is not an accusation and it is not a verdict. It is a decision to stop guessing. The regret we hear about is never the test, it is the time spent before it.
A short LPI reference and nothing else. Polygraph, lie detector and Guildford do not appear anywhere on the transaction, so anyone who sees your statement learns nothing from it.
Then no test happens. We only examine volunteers, and written consent is checked before anything begins, so nobody can be booked in against their will. The offer itself still tells you something. Willingness is an answer of sorts, and so is refusal, and you have learned it before paying a penny.
Get in touch as early as you can and we will do our best to move your appointment to a day that works. If you make it as far as the car park at Guildford Business Park and are not sure you can walk in, that is more common than you might think. Come in anyway and talk to the examiner. Nothing is recorded until every question has been agreed, and nobody will push you into anything.
That depends on the result, and we will not pretend otherwise. What tends to follow is relief, whichever way it goes. A truthful result gives a couple something solid to build on again. A deceptive one swaps months of confusion for facts you can act on. The written report is evidence rather than instinct, what you do with it is your decision, and we are happy to talk it through afterwards.
Understanding Polygraph Tests
A polygraph records what your body does while you answer a structured set of questions: breathing, cardiovascular activity and the electrical conductance of your skin. The instrument does not detect lies as such. It records physiological changes, and the examiner scores how those changes differ between the question types. Run properly, on one issue, with validated techniques and a trained examiner, a test reaches 90 to 98 percent decision accuracy.
The whole appointment takes around 90 minutes, so allow two hours. It has three parts: the pre-test interview, where the issue is discussed and the questions agreed; the examination itself, where the sensors are attached and the agreed questions are asked more than once; and the analysis and preliminary result. The time on the instrument is the shortest part. The interview before it is what makes the result reliable.
Three kinds. Relevant questions go directly to the issue, for example whether you took the money. Comparison questions are broader and give the examiner something to score the relevant questions against. Neutral questions, such as whether today is a weekday, show what your readings look like at rest. Every question of every kind is agreed with you in the pre-test interview. Nothing is introduced once the examination has started.
Yes, and you will. Agreeing the questions with you is the point of the pre-test interview, not a favour. The examiner reads every question out, explains the wording, and changes anything that is unclear or that you read differently from how it was intended. By the time the sensors go on there is nothing left to be surprised by.
Accuracy and Reliability
A properly run single issue test sits between 90 and 98 percent decision accuracy. What decides where in that range a test lands is nothing mysterious: the examiner's training, the instrument, the room and the question technique. The American Polygraph Association's research base runs to several hundred studies, and the techniques it validates are the ones we use. All four factors are worth asking about before you book with anyone.
Your physical state on the day matters: a night without sleep, illness, alcohol or drugs in your system all muddy the readings. The examiner matters more than anything, because distinguishing nerves from deception is a trained skill. The room matters too, which is why we test in a private, solid-walled meeting room rather than wherever happens to be free. And the question technique matters: one issue, worded exactly, scored under a validated protocol.
No. Everyone is nervous, and the examiner expects it. Scoring compares your responses to different types of question against each other, not against some calm ideal, so a truthful person who is shaking and a truthful person who is relaxed produce the same result. The questions themselves are designed to account for general anxiety.
Not as evidence in their own right, as a rule. UK courts do not generally admit polygraph results, though the state does use polygraph in the supervision of certain offenders. Where the results earn their keep is outside the courtroom: private disputes, workplace investigations, and cases where a solicitor wants to understand how credible a client's account is before deciding how to proceed.
Cost and Pricing
No. If your appointment is more than three days away you can secure it with a £149 deposit, and the balance is collected automatically from the same card two days before the test. Nothing to remember and nothing to pay on the day. The deposit is non-refundable, because it holds that slot for you alone. If you would rather pay in full you can, including in three instalments with Klarna at checkout.
A single issue test at our Guildford office is from £449, booked and paid online. That covers the pre-test interview, the examination at Guildford Business Park and the full written report with recorded charts inside 24 hours. Couples tests are from £695, theft investigations from £499 and pre-employment screening from £549. Treat a much lower price with suspicion: the saving usually comes out of the examiner's training or the equipment, and neither is where you want corners cut.
Because that is what turns a slot on the calendar into a confirmed appointment. You can pay in full, including in three instalments with Klarna, or, if the test is more than three days away, hold the date with a £149 deposit and have the balance collected from the same card two days before. Once you book, the room is reserved, the examiner is assigned and the preparation starts, which is why the deposit is non-refundable. It also means a no-show does not leave a room empty that someone else needed.
Not for a standard office test. The price you pay at booking covers the interview, the examination and the written report with charts, and nothing is added on the day. Home visits are a separate service with their own pricing, booked through Home Polygraph Services at https://homepolygraph.com. Anything out of the ordinary, such as a recorded session arranged in advance or an examiner attending as a witness, is quoted before you commit to it.
Where two partners need testing on the same issue, the couples test from £695 covers both examinations on the same day, which is the simplest way to book. For anything beyond that, such as several members of staff in a theft investigation, contact us with the numbers and the issue and we will give you a quote.
Preparation and Requirements
Sleep properly the night before and eat as you normally would, including on the morning of the test. Take any prescribed medication as usual. No alcohol for 24 hours beforehand and go easy on caffeine on the day. Wear something comfortable that is not bulky, because the sensors go on your chest, upper arm and fingers. Beyond that there is nothing to revise and nothing to rehearse. Come as you are and be straight with the examiner.
Alcohol and recreational drugs for at least 24 hours before, since both distort the readings and can leave a test inconclusive. Energy drinks and heavy caffeine on the day. Internet advice on how to beat the test, which does not work and is easy for a trained examiner to spot, and tends to turn a straightforward truthful test into a messy one. And long conversations with people who have taken a polygraph elsewhere: their experience will not be yours and will only add to the nerves.
Usually, yes, but tell us. Conditions affecting the heart, blood pressure, breathing or the nervous system are the ones the examiner most needs to know about, along with anything that makes it hard to sit still for a while. Mention them when you book and again in the pre-test interview. Pregnancy is not normally a barrier where it is going smoothly. The examiner makes the final call on suitability on the day, and will say so plainly if a test is not the right thing to run.
Keep taking anything prescribed to you. Stopping medication to improve a test is dangerous and usually makes the readings worse, not better. What the examiner needs is a list: blood pressure tablets, beta blockers, medication for anxiety or depression, stimulants and sedatives can all shape your responses, and knowing about them lets the examiner read the charts correctly. Over the counter medicines and supplements count too. Bring the list to the pre-test interview.
As a guide, 14. What actually matters is whether the person understands the process, the questions and what it means to be truthful or not, and can give informed consent. Anyone under 18 needs written permission from a parent or legal guardian, and the examiner assesses each young person individually in the pre-test interview before deciding whether to proceed.
The Testing Process
The examiner starts by explaining how the polygraph works and showing you the instrument and sensors. You then talk through the issue together, in enough detail for the questions to be worded exactly. Every question is read out, discussed and agreed. You sign a consent form confirming you are taking the test voluntarily. This part takes the largest share of the appointment, and it is where most of the accuracy comes from.
Photo ID, such as a driving licence or passport. That is the only thing you cannot do without. If the test concerns a workplace matter and you have documents that explain the background, bring them; they can help the examiner word the questions, though they are not essential. Wear comfortable clothing that is not too thick, since the sensors go on your chest, arm and fingers. Any companion can wait in the business centre's reception.
You leave the office knowing the preliminary result. The examiner scores the charts before you go and tells you what they show. The full written report follows within 24 hours, with the recorded charts, the examiner's analysis and the questions that were asked set out in plain English.
The questions exactly as they were asked, the recorded physiological charts, the examiner's analysis of them and the result: truthful, deceptive or inconclusive on the issue tested. The report explains the technique used and notes anything that bears on how the charts should be read. Every report is reviewed by a second qualified examiner before it is released. It is written to be read by someone who has never seen a polygraph chart, and to stand up if it is shown to someone who has.
Privacy and Confidentiality
Yes. What you tell the examiner, the charts and the result are private to the examination, and the result is released only to the person named on the consent form. Appointments are staggered so you never meet another client, and your bank statement shows only a short LPI reference. The one exception is a serious safeguarding concern, such as an ongoing risk to a child, where we may have a legal duty to report. That would be explained to you.
The person named on the consent form, and nobody else without that person's written say-so. In a relationship test that is usually the person being examined, who then chooses who to show the report to. In a workplace matter the employee consents in writing to the employer receiving the result before the test goes ahead. We do not pass results to anyone on request, including a partner who paid for the booking, unless the consent form names them.
Under UK GDPR, with the usual obligations that brings. Booking details, test data and reports are held on encrypted systems with access restricted to the people working on your examination. Records are kept for the period professional standards require and then securely destroyed. We do not sell or share your information, and you can ask at any time what we hold about you.
Specific Use Cases
It is what most relationship tests are about. A suspicion that cannot be proved or disproved does not fade; it hardens. A test puts the actual question, agreed and worded exactly, to the person who can answer it, and scores the answer. A truthful result gives you something to rebuild on. A deceptive one ends the not knowing. Either way, think about what you will do with each outcome before you book, because you will have one of them within 24 hours.
Yes, for roles where trust is the whole job: handling cash, holding keys, caring for vulnerable people, access to sensitive data. Pre-employment screening checks the account a candidate has given of themselves before you commit to them. It must be voluntary, with written consent, and nobody can be compelled to take one in the UK outside a small number of regulated settings. Used properly it protects the honest candidate as much as the employer.
This is where single issue testing earns its keep. When something has gone missing and several people had access, everyone sits under the same cloud. Testing staff one at a time, each on the same agreed issue, clears people quickly and narrows the field. Participation is voluntary and in writing, and honest employees often volunteer first because the test is the fastest way out from under suspicion. The result should inform an investigation, not replace one.
Not usually as evidence in court, but that is rarely the point. Solicitors use polygraph results to test their own client's account before building a case on it, to support a negotiated settlement, or to show good faith in a family dispute. Some parties in a civil matter agree between themselves to accept a result. Ask your solicitor how a report might help your particular situation before booking on that basis.
Additional Common Questions
A deceptive result means the charts showed stronger responses to the relevant questions than to the comparison questions, consistently, across the test. The examiner tells you that before you leave and goes through it with you. It does not say why, and it does not say anything about questions that were not asked. If something specific skewed the test, such as a question you understood differently from how it was agreed, that is the time to raise it, and a retest can sometimes be arranged. What the result means for your situation depends on why you took it.
You can stop the test at any point; it is voluntary from start to finish. But refusing a particular question once the examination is running makes the result unreliable, and it is hard to read as anything other than what it looks like. The time to object to a question is the pre-test interview, where every question is agreed with you and can be reworded or removed. By the time the sensors go on, you have already approved everything you will be asked.
It happens in roughly one in ten tests. Inconclusive means the charts did not show a clear enough difference either way for the examiner to call it, and it is not a soft way of saying deceptive. Poor sleep, illness, medication, movement during the test or an issue that was not quite pinned down in the interview are the usual causes. Where the cause can be fixed, a retest on another day usually resolves it.
The office at Guildford Business Park sits off the A3 at the Onslow interchange, which puts Woking, Godalming, Farnborough, Aldershot, Dorking and Leatherhead within roughly half an hour by road or rail, and the rest of Surrey not far behind. Where travelling to us is genuinely impossible, our sister service Home Polygraph Services tests at your home, seven days a week, booked online at https://homepolygraph.com.
Yes. The business centre has a reception area where a companion can wait while the test is conducted. Nobody other than you and the examiner is in the room during the examination. Your confirmation email tells you what to say when you arrive.
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