PCEP Police Constable Entry Programme

Eligibility

To be a police officer you must:

• be aged 17 or over (on the day you submit your application). You will need to be 18 years or over by your first day.
• have been a UK resident for the past three years.
• be a British or Commonwealth citizen, or an EC/European Economic Area national, or a foreign national whose stay in the UK is unrestricted.
• have a full UK manual driving licence.
• not have six penalty points or more on your driving licence.
• be prepared to work shifts including nights, weekends and bank holidays
• not have tattoos which could cause offence.
• not be registered bankrupt (or have bankruptcy debts that have been discharged within the past three years).
• be able to pass a job-related fitness test
• be able to pass a medical screening and meet the minimum eyesight standards
• not be a current or previous member of a proscribed terrorist organisation or group

Required qualifications

You will need a minimum of a Level 2 qualification in English Language or Literature at a GCSE (Grade C and above or level 4 to 9) or equivalent. 

In addition to this, you will also need:

• Two A-Levels at Grade E or above, or an equivalent Level 3 qualification

Non-UK Qualifications 

If you’re qualifications are from outside the UK, you will need to provide a certified translation of your qualifications. The following website can provide a ‘Statement of Comparability’ to compare your non-UK qualifications to the UK and the framework levels:  Statement of Comparability   

Please note: This is a paid service, and this site is independent and not a partner of the Constabulary, and you are advised to also seek independent advice. 

OR

Evidence of at least two years of employment/experience in a role with comparable skills to policing or academic study (see list below). 

Comparable skills/experience:

• Experience working with the vulnerable / caring for others / working with communities: 
  - Nursing 
  - Care Sector 
  - Social Work 
  - Youth Work 
  - Charity Work 
  - Teaching 
• Police Staff – Particularly with experience in custody/public facing/demand hub/enquiry office roles/investigative roles/criminal justice sector/CPS/Courts/Border Force.
• PCSO/Special Constable experience with independent patrol.
• Completed the PPD (Professional Policing Degree) – The PCEP programme content may differ for PPD graduates depending on individual’s needs. 
• Have served the minimum term of service with the UK Armed Forces and have achieved an exemplary reference on discharge (4+ years, or 3 years if pre-1999). 
• Relevant local authority experience which has involved close and sustained working with police. 
• Experience of emergency services – ambulance, fire etc. 
• Experience of performing investigative roles such as fraud, financial crime, loss prevention and cyber/digital crime. 
• Customer service experience at a supervisory level in a public facing role.  

Don’t have the grades? Don’t worry!

Applicants who do not hold two A-Levels or a formal level 3 qualification will be invited to provide additional written evidence that they possess comparable skills, experience, and personal attributes to make an effective police officer. 

Start your PCEP application here

Checks will be undertaken to ensure applicants are eligible and possess the necessary qualifications and/or experience to join the service. Successful candidates will move to the next stages of recruitment.

Learn more about the recruitment process here.

If successful in your application, you will receive further information on the structure, learning and assessment requirements of the PCEP programme, upon commencement of your employment with either constabulary. 

Our training team are aware your detailed knowledge of policing may be limited, no assumptions are made, and each student officer is offered coaching to achieve the requirements in a very tailored way. 

We also have lots of experience if you need any workplace adjustments, everyone will be screened for dyslexia and given personal support as necessary. 

If successful in the application process, for those applicants with any previous experience in relation to policing practice either as a student, Special Constable or PCSO, consideration may be given to any suitable previous recognised prior learning (RPL) enabling ‘credit’ to be given that will allow a shortened learning programme and/or reduced assessment requirements to be undertaken.  Decisions with regards to this RPL will only be made on a one-to-one basis depending upon circumstance; the force decision on this will be final. 

Year 1

Year 2

PCEP is a two-year learning programme commencing with a 22-week classroom-based learning phase, based at Suffolk Police Headquarters, Martlesham.

The curriculum encompasses 5 core area of policing practice namely, response policing, policing communities, roads policing, information and intelligence and conducting investigations, all of which are critical to the performance of the role of a police constable. 

As an Officer, you will also attend Personal Safety Training, First Aid and there are several ICT systems to learn about. 

After the initial training course and a period of leave, you will join operational Professional Development Units (PDU’s) where over a period of 13 weeks you will be coached and mentored by trained tutor constables who will support you to achieve a “safe and legal” standard of practice in policing. 

By the end of year one, you will have been assessed to check your suitability to be able to progress to Independent Patrol Status (IPS).  In gaining IPS you will be fully operationally deployable and able to respond to and deal with incident by yourself. 

On completion of your initial tutorship phase with PDU’s, PCEP students will progress to a further 13-week attachment, working within a Community Support Unit. These teams afford students a protected opportunity to further develop their policing skills without a tutor, but with the close support of an experienced supervisor before entering their Independent Patrol Phase. 

PCEP students begin their Independent Patrol Phase (18 weeks) at the beginning of year two where they will continue developing their confidence in an operational policing role and working towards completion of the Operations Competence Portfolio (OCP) and achievement of Full Occupational Competence (FOC). 

During year two, students will return to the classroom for two weeks to further develop their understanding about key topics such as leadership, investigation skills, case building and public protection. 

In addition to the classroom-based training, 7 days protected learning time is allocated to PCEP student officers, to enable them to complete work-based portfolios and provide best evidence to support final assessment and confirmation in rank as an ‘established practitioner’ at the end of their two-year probationary period. 

To ensure you’ve got the right level of knowledge, understanding, skills, attitudes, and behaviours, there will be a range of different kinds of assessments across the two years, including: 

• Roleplay exercises 
• Knowledge checks 
• Tutor observations 
• Work based portfolio work 
• Discussions 

Operationally you will also be formally assessed performing operational activities to ascertain whether you are a) able to patrol independently (Year 1) and b) toward the end of Year 2 be deemed to be fully competent to be ‘confirmed in rank’.  These are key assessments that you must pass. 

Throughout the two-year period, developmental review meetings and coaching/mentoring sessions will assist in your development and an individual learning plan will be created to ensure suitable direction and support is available to you according to your own learning needs.