Age
Candidates must be aged 18 on appointment.
Qualifications
You don’t need any formal qualifications to join as a PCSO.
Nationality
You must be a British citizen, from the European Community or European Economic Area (including Iceland, Norway and Lichtenstein) or a Commonwealth citizen or foreign national with no restrictions on your stay in the UK.
If you are a Commonwealth citizen or foreign national you should send a copy of your passport, showing your stay is free of restrictions, with your application. Other documentary evidence of your status may be needed
Residency
You will need to have been resident in the UK for the last three years consecutively.
Convictions and cautions - you and your family
Convictions or cautions will not necessarily cause a problem for appointment. It will depend on their nature, the circumstances and when the offence was committed. Failing to disclose convictions or cautions will, however, result in your application being terminated.
You must declare all convictions or any past offences, formal cautions by the police, including cautions as a juvenile (under 18) and any bind-overs imposed by any court.
You should include traffic convictions such as speeding, drink-drive offences, fixed penalties for motoring or disorder offences and any appearances before a court martial.
Any charge or summons currently outstanding must be declared, as should spent convictions under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 or any involvement with civil, military or transport police. You must let us know if you have ever been involved in a criminal investigation whether or not this led to prosecution of yourself or others.
Some applicants do not declare information which they believe is no longer held on record. However, our enquiries will reveal historical incidents and failing to disclose these will lead to your application being rejected. If you have any doubts, include the details.
We will also search criminal convictions or cautions recorded against your family, so you should inform them these enquiries will be made. Due to data protection, we will not be able to disclose the results of these enquiries to you.
Medical
We need to ensure you are in good mental and physical health to carry out the duties of a PCSO. A medical assessment is part of the recruitment process.
Any job offer is subject to medical clearance and you will be asked to complete a pre-employment questionnaire. This information is confidentially screened by our occupational health department. They may request more information from your doctor and/or ask for a medical examination to be completed before a job offer is made.
Eyesight standards
The standard you need to meet either with or without spectacles or contact lenses is:
- distance vision
- 6/12 or better with either your right or left eye
- 6/6 with both eyes together
- if you wear spectacles or contact lenses you also need to reach 6/36 without your spectacles or lenses.
- near vision
6/9 with both eyes together (aided)
- colour vision
The use of colour-correcting lenses is not acceptable. Severe colour vision deficiencies (monochromats) are not acceptable. Mild anomalous trichromats are acceptable. Severe anomalous dichromats or trichromats are also acceptable but you will need to be aware of the deficiency and make appropriate adjustments.
- eye surgery
Radial keratotomy, arcuate keratotomy or corneal grafts are not acceptable.
Physical fitness
As a PCSO a key part of your role is to provide high-visibility patrols. You will need to be physically fit as there is a significant amount of walking - this will be tested as part of the recruitment process with a job related fitness test.
Link to advice on passing the job-related fitness test |
