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The application form (including competency questionnaire) is the first and one of the most difficult stages of the process.
Write clearly and concisely and check your spelling.
Take your time in completing the competency based questionnaire. Read all of the questions fully before considering a response. Make sure you answer ALL parts to the question and use an example of a situation or past experience that you have encountered.
We are looking for the following:
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effective communication - can you communicate instructions and decisions clearly? Can you communicate to a variety of audiences across a range of issues?
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community and customer focus - can you build good relationships with members of our communities?
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personal responsibility - do you take responsibility for your own actions and can you tackle a range of issues and problems?
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resilience - are you calm, confident and logical in sensitive and problematic situations?
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problem solving - do you gather accurate information from a range of sources to understand situations and resolve problems? Can you identify potential issues and consider alternatives?
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respect for diversity - do you understand different perspectives and take them into account? Are you respectful of other people?
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team working - are you a team member and do you help to build relationships with teams?
Once received, it will be considered against the entry criteria and marked against various competencies to ensure it meets the minimum standard required as determined by the Home Office.
If you make an unsuccessful application you will have to wait six months before you can reapply, so it’s important you really make your application count and avoid some of the common mistakes that some candidates make.
Stage Two - Assessment Centre
The assessment centre will determine whether you have what it takes to become a police officer.
You will receive an information pack around two weeks before your assessment centre. This will contain all the information you need to find the assessment centre and to prepare for the process.
At the assessment centre you will undertake:
- a 20-minute structured interview
- four ten-minute interactive role play scenarios
- two 20-minute written exercises
- a 12-minute numerical reasoning test
- a 25-minute verbal logical reasoning test
These activities will enable us to observe what you do in certain situations and how you do it. You will be assessed to see whether you demonstrate the skills we look for.
Again, we are looking for the following:
- effective communication
- community and customer focus
- personal responsibility
- resilience
- problem solving
- respect for diversity
- team working
If you are unsuccessful you will need to wait six months before you can sit the assessment centre again.
If you are successful at the assessment centre you will be invited to attend for a fitness test, which is designed to reflect the activities carried out by police officers.
The fitness test consists of three fitness exercises designed to assess your endurance and dynamic strength:
- a bleep test to check your aerobic fitness - you will be asked to run to and fro along a 15 metre track in time with a series of bleeps, which become increasingly faster
- two tests to measure upper body strength - involves performing five seated chest pushes and five seated back pulls on the Dyno machine to measure your strength
You will need to be in fairly good condition to pass the test and general fitness training prior to attending the fitness test will be of benefit. Applicants are not required to undergo a rigorous training programme in order to meet the minimum standards. We only want to make sure you would be physically able to carry out your duties.
Once you have passed the assessment centre, you will be asked to attend a comprehensive medical assessment.
This is conducted at Police HQ by the occupational health physician. You will be examined and assessed against a set of national police standards to establish that you have the level of health that is required by a police officer.
The assessment is thorough and includes checks of:
- eyesight
- hearing
- lung function
- blood pressure
- body mass index (BMI)*
- pre-employment drugs screening
*BMI refers to your height to weight ratio and should be below 30
If you have a particular condition and would like to check whether it would prevent you from becoming a police officer, contact the recruitment team.
Finally, once you have passed all stages of the recruitment process and we have received vetting clearance and satisfactory references, we will send you an offer of appointment. This is where the real hard work begins as you join up as a student officer.
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