Following submission of your form and successfully passing the national sift (if applicable), your application you will go through a review. This will be a quality assurance review of eligibility which will include convictions and tattoos. This stage can take time to complete and there may be a need to contact you for further information to complete this stage. Once this stage has been completed the e-recruitment portal will be updated with your next stage, which will be Assessment Centre Ready (if applicable) or Force Interview

If you have not previously passed the College of Policing standard recruitment assessment, either the current Online Assessment Centre or the former SEARCH® or Day One assessment centre, as part of a previous recruitment process; there is an expectation that you complete this part of the process as part of recruitment to a Home Office police force. If you have previously passed this, you will need to provide evidence of this.

The national sift will allow you to demonstrate your suitability for entry to the next stage of the recruitment process. The 2 exercises within the sift are used to assess capabilities, strengths and behaviours that are important within the role.

Situational judgement test (SJT)

The SJT assesses your judgement and decision-making skills in relation to job-relevant situations. In the exercise, you will be presented with a series of scenarios that reflect challenging situations you may face when working in the role. For each scenario, you will be presented with four possible actions that could be taken. You will be asked to rate each of the four actions in terms of its effectiveness in addressing the scenario.

Behavioural styles questionnaire (BSQ)

The BSQ measures your typical behaviour and preferences at work. The purpose of the questionnaire is to assess whether you have the right behaviours and attitudes to be effective in the role. You will be presented with a series of statements and asked to decide the extent to which you agree or disagree with each statement.

You will automatically be resulted if you have been unsuccessful.

You will not be eligible to apply to become a police officer for 3 months following the result.

National Sift Candidate guidance can be found by clicking here.

Online Assessment Centre Following submission of your application you will be invited by email to complete the College of Policing online assessment. This online process is a series of stages containing exercises that test the key competencies and values that are important for police constables. The Competency and Values Framework (CVF) sets out the behaviours expected of everyone working in policing. 

You can find out more about the CVF here.

Candidates who pass stage 1 are invited to take stage 2 immediately.

You will be asked 5 questions about how you have dealt with specific situations in the past. This is your opportunity to provide some examples of the key competencies and values that are important for police constables. You can use examples from both your work and your personal life.

You will have five minutes for each questions.

Candidates are provided with one minute preparation before each question.

Approximate time to complete: 35 minutes

How will I get my results?

Stage 2: Interview – the content will be reviewed by a qualified assessor. Your result will be communicated to you via email.

Written exercise – Candidates will be provided with written materials outlining a scenario in the community. They will have various sources of information and will be asked to provide typed written responses to their sergeant in relation to the issues contained in the materials. This exercise lasts approximately 50 minutes.

Briefing exercise – Candidates will be presented with a short brief of a community-based scenario and they will have time to prepare their responses to key questions. The scenario will evolve and additional information will be presented to the candidate for them to consider and respond to. Candidates’ verbal responses to the questions will be recorded. This exercise lasts approximately 60 minutes.

Stage 3: Written exercise and briefing exercise – both exercises will be reviewed by a qualified assessor and your result will be communicated to you via email.

If successful at the Assessment Centre you will then be required to complete a local force interview. This will be a structured interview with a panel of interviewers consisting of Police Officers and Staff.

The interview is expected to last up to 30 minutes. The questions in the interview are aimed at exploring your values and motivation to join as a Constable, these will be structured against the role profile for a Police Constable based on the Competency Valued Framework. We will also take Biometric Vetting samples.

The Recruitment Team will advise of what is required as your application progresses.

A comprehensive evaluation of your professional development needs against the role offered will be completed by our Learning & Development department, in order for your training requirements to be determined.

The Police Job Related Fitness Test (JRFT) is a critical component of the recruitment and deployment of police officers. The core rational for the test is to ensure that prospective police officers have a minimum level of fitness to be able to undertake personal safety training. The fitness test is benchmarked against the aerobic demands of Personal Safety Training (PST) and comprises of an aerobic shuttle run test (15m Multi Stage Fitness Test – 15m MSFT at level 5:4).

Fitness Test

A medical assessment will be carried out by our Occupational Health Support Unit. They will check the following:

- BMI (Body Mass Index)

- Eye sight test – see Appendices

- Colour vision – see Appendices

- Lung function

- Hearing

You will be asked to complete a confidential medical history questionnaire. You are advised not to pay for your GP to sign these forms until you know you have been successful though the earlier stages. Depending upon your medical history, we may have to contact your GP/ specialist for further information.

Once you have been declared medically fit we will then progress your application to the next stage.

For further information on the national standards please see here

Vetting:

The vetting process is entirely confidential and the outcomes (other than pass/fail) are not shared with anyone else in the organisation (including trainers, future line managers or fellow trainees) or anyone outside of the organisation (including family).

We will carry out security checks on you and your:

- Spouse/Partner

- Father

- Step father/mother’s partner

- Mother

- Stepmother/father’s partner

- Brothers/sisters (full/half/step)

- Children/children of your partner (only those age    10 years and over)

- Any other adult living at your address

- Financial circumstances – applicants will have their financial status checked

These checks are carried out because Police Officers have access to privileged information, which may make them vulnerable to corruption.

Applicants with outstanding County Court Judgements (CCJs), Individual Voluntary Agreements (IVAs) or who have been registered bankrupt with outstanding debts, will be rejected. If you have discharged bankruptcy debts then you will need to provide a Certificate of Satisfaction with your application. At least three years will need to have passed since the date of discharge.

Applicants with cautions/convictions/reprimands, other than some motoring offences, may not be accepted.

References:

We will send reference requests to all your previous employers in the last 3 years. If you have not been employed in the past 3 years, we will ask for an educational reference if applicable.

Drug Testing:

As part of the Vetting process you will be required to undergo drugs testing. All drug testing processes are entirely confidential and only the presence of illegal substances will be disclosed to the Force Vetting Unit (by the third party drug testing laboratory). Prescribed medication, including that for individuals with certain disabilities or individuals that may be transitioning, is not tested for in the process.

You are formally offered a job and provided with a start date.