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Wondering what routes there are into becoming a Police Officer? Whether you can join with experience from other emergency services? Maybe you'd like to know about how the salary progresses, or what vetting entails?
We've compiled some of our most frequently asked questions about joining us as a Police Officer below.
If you are an EU or EAA citizen you can apply to be a police officer providing you have no restrictions on your right to live and work in the UK.
Candidates who have lived abroad are required to have resided in the UK for three years due to the challenges often faced with obtaining adequate vetting checks from abroad.
We need to ensure all applicants have to be vetted to the same standard before appointment.
A full manual driver’s licence is essential for working at Norfolk and Suffolk Constabularies, as we are rural-based forces.
Each case is considered on its own individual merits in relation to the role being undertaken and assets being accessed.
Applications for a position as a police officer; a special constable; or as a member of police staff where that member of staff may be in the evidential chain are rejected in all cases where:
Financial checks are used to assess whether applicants have been, are currently, or are likely to be in financial difficulty, or show signs of financial irresponsibility to the extent that they could become vulnerable to financial inducement.
It is unlikely that you will be successful in your vetting clearance if you:
Careful consideration will be given if you have a history of late payments, a current individual voluntary arrangement (IVA) or debt management plan. Where a formal repayment plan is in place, force vetting managers will need to satisfy themselves that you have maintained regular payments over a number of months before making clearance decisions.
The public are largely accepting of police officers and staff with visible tattoos, however some tattoos could potentially offend members of the public or colleagues, or could discredit the police service.
It is therefore important that prospective officers & staff are aware of the strict guidance and policy relating to tattoos.
Tattoos will be deemed as unacceptable if they:
Careful consideration will be given to tattoos if they:
Examples of rejected tattoos:
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Examples of rejected tattoos due to size and prominence:
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Once an applicant has provided details of their tattoo, the Head of the Professional Standards Department will make the decision on determining if a tattoo is unacceptable.
A right of appeal exists whereby, officers, staff or prospective employees can request a review of the decision regarding their tattoo. An appeal will need to be submitted in writing to the Deputy Chief Constable who will make the final decision, consulting with relevant groups (i.e. Staff Associations, Community Representatives) when they consider necessary.
Minimum of a Level 2 qualification in English Language or English Literature at a GCSE (Grade C and above or level 4 to 9) or equivalent
AND
Two A-Levels at Grade E or above, or a Level 3 qualification or equivalent (32 UCAS Points),
OR
Evidence of at least two years employment/experience in a role with comparable skills to policing or academic study).
Minimum of a Level 2 (GCSE or equivalent) Maths and English
AND
Two A-Levels or a Level 3 qualification or equivalent (64 UCAS points).
In 2025, Norfolk and Suffolk Constabularies will be offering three entry routes to join their service.
Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship (PCDA)
Under the PCDA you join the police service for a minimum of three years as an apprentice police constable, with the option of specialising in year three. Successful completion of the programme leads to your being awarded a Level 6 degree in Professional Policing Practice and confirmation in rank as a Police Constable.
This programme is jointly delivered by Norfolk and Suffolk Constabularies and Anglia Ruskin University with the constabularies fully funding the cost of your degree. Learning is undertaken both in the classroom and whilst actually doing the job to help you gain the skills, knowledge and behaviours to become a competent police officer.
Police Constable Entry Programme (PCEP)
This is a two-year programme which leads to your becoming a Police Constable. Applicants do not need to have a degree or work towards a degree to gain entry via this route.
Following 22-week initial training, officers are tutored by an experienced officer for 13 weeks with the aim of achieving independent patrol status at the end of this period.
Thereafter, PCEP student officers continue with their work-based learning in response policing, gathering sufficient evidence to demonstrate full occupational competency as a police constable.
Police Constable Entry Programme (PCEP) – Detective Pathway
This is a two-year programme which leads to your becoming a Detective Constable.
Applicants do not need to have a degree or work towards a degree to gain entry via this route.
You will join as a uniform police constable and for the first year of your service, you will undertake the same training as officers entering via the PCEP (uniform officers) entry route.
At the start of your second year of service, you will be posted to either a Criminal Investigation Department (CID) or Safeguarding department where you will be tutored by an experienced detective in serious and complex crime investigation. You will also be required to pass the National Investigators Exam to be able to access further training to complete your qualification as an accredited Detective.
There are several differences between the entry routes, and these are summarised below to help you decide which route is best suited to you.
Student officers successfully completing the PCDA, are awarded a Level 6 degree in Professional Policing Practice.
By contrast, completion of PCEP does not result in a formal accredited qualification. Successful completion of the PCEP programme results in confirmation as a Police Officer or Detective Constable (PCEP Detective Pathway).
PCDA is a three-year programme. Student officers are required to complete additional academic assignments to achieve a degree in professional policing practice. In year one, PCDA students undertake 22-week initial training, in year two, 6 weeks classroom-based training and in year three, 7 weeks classroom- based learning.
PCEP is a two-year programme. Student officers undertake 22-week initial training in year 1, followed by a 2-week classroom-based course in year 2. Training is predominantly work-based with the support of trained tutors, assessors, and supervisors.
PCEP detective pathway students are required to pass the College of Policing National Investigators Exam and) in order to access specialist detective training and achieve accreditation as a qualified PIP2 investigator (Detective status).
PCDA is a three-year learning programme commencing with a 22-week classroom-based learning phase.
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 14 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, PCDA students will progress to a further 14-week attachment. The teams available for attachments 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.
PCDA 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 and three, students will return to the classroom for 12 weeks and 4 days to further develop their understanding about key topics such as leadership, investigation skills, case building and public protection.
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:
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 three-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.
At the end of your PCDA programme, you will hold a Level 6 Degree in Professional Policing Practice.
PCEP is a two-year learning programme, commencing with a 22-week classroom-based learning phase, based at Martlesham Heath Police Headquarters (Suffolk Constabulary) or Hethersett Old Hall near Norwich (Norfolk Constabulary).
The curriculum encompasses five core areas 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 a number of 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 18 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 incidents by yourself.
On completion of your initial tutorship phase with PDU’s, PCEP students’ progress to a further 13 week attachment, working within either a Community Support Unit (Norfolk) or an Investigation Development Team (Suffolk). 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 a operational policing role and working towards completion of the Operational Competence Portfolio (OCP) and achievement of Full Occupational Competence (FOC).
During the course of 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 classroom-based training, seven 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’ll be a range of different kinds of assessments across the two years, including:
Operationally you will also be formally assessed performing operational activities to ascertain whether you are a) able to patrol independently (year 1) and b) towards 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.
Students joining under the Detective Pathway programme (only) have to pass the College of Policing National Investigators Exam to be able to access specialist detective training and attain accredited PIP2 investigator (detective constable) status.
Currently, the new national PCEP is designed to be unaccredited and does not require an academic qualification to be awarded on completion.
However, Norfolk and Suffolk Constabularies are mindful of the potential option to accredit this programme and will continue to liaise with the College of Policing and force partners to review the requirement and approach to accreditation in the future.
No. The costs of the course are covered by Norfolk/Suffolk Constabularies.
Visit our 'The Recruitment Process' page to find out more about the selection and recruitment process.
All applicants must complete vetting prior to joining a force, to identify whether they are suitable to become a police officer. The vetting process also includes disclosing information on your friends and family, to ensure that you aren’t vulnerable to extortion or blackmail.
You’ll be asked to provide information on:
Vetting also includes:
Applicants should declare any business interests during the application stage of the recruitment process. These will then be assessed by the Professional Standard Department (PSD) and a decision will be made as to whether the additional occupation or business interest is appropriate.
The business interest could be approved, denied, or approved with conditions i.e not to work more than 10hrs a week on the part-time business.
Business interests are strictly monitored by PSD to ensure officers remain efficient, legal, and ethical. Therefore, officer’s business interests are regularly reviewed for suitability.
Having completed your basic training, you will be deployed to operational policing teams, responding to both emergency and non-emergency calls. You will be attending a wide range of crime reports, including those involving harm to victims, such as for example incidents of domestic abuse, sexual assault, assault or public order offences.
You will also have to investigate property related crime reports, such as for example burglary, theft, fraud or criminal damage, as well as drug related offences. In addition, you will have to attend other incidents such as sudden deaths, missing person reports or road traffic collisions. The work of a police officer is extremely varied, frequently challenging but also incredibly rewarding.
If you join under the PCEP Detective Pathway entry route, you will receive additional training and support to be able to investigate serious and complex crimes.
Norfolk and Suffolk Constabularies hold career development in high regard and to ensure we are supporting our workforce to develop themselves; we regularly offer promotion opportunities.
Promotion is a highly competitive process, but we believe it is right to enable eligible candidates to apply to build on their natural strengths and talents, giving them greater opportunity to demonstrate their suitability for promotion. Promotion opportunities in policing can be broken down as follows:
College of Policing National Police Promotions Framework (NPPF)
College of Policing Fast Track programmes
All other officer promotions, including Executive level, will follow an internal promotions process.
The rank structure is as follows:
Police Constable
This is the starting rank for police officers.
Sergeant
First supervisory rank. Typically responsible for a team of constables.
Inspector
Oversees a shift of constables and sergeants. Also takes charge of major incidents in their force area.
Chief Inspector
Typically acts as a senior police officer in larger towns, overseeing large teams such as investigations or operations.
Superintendent
Senior management rank. Usually in charge for a section of a Command.
Chief Superintendent
Typically responsible for policing of a geographical area of their force.
Assistant Chief Constable
Mainly responsible for a specific function or area within their police force e.g. Investigations or Operations.
Deputy Chief Constable
Supporting role to the Chief Constable, handling the running of the force.
Chief Constable
Responsible for the effective running of their force.
For Police Constables, all applicants will start on a salary of £28,551 which increases in increments every 12 months up to £46,044.
• Year 1 £29,907
• Year 2 £31,164
• Year 3 £32,427
• Year 4 £33,690
• Year 5 £36,216
• Year 6 £41,304
• Year 7 £48,231
Plus paid overtime/unsociable hours.
If you were to work your way up the ranks, Sergeants start on £51,408, Inspectors on £61,197 and Chief Inspectors £67,509.
All officers and police staff’s pay automatically increases in increments every 12 months.
During initial training will be required you will be required to work Monday to Friday 09:00am to 5:00pm.
Once operational, you will be required to work shifts over evenings, nights and weekends.
The role of a PC is 365 days a year, including bank holidays, and sometimes you may be required to stay on duty past the end of your shift.
After you have completed your first year of training, if you have responsibilities, for example caring duties that might prevent you from undertaking particular shifts, we will discuss alternative options with you.
The usual shift pattern for a police officer is six days on four days off including two earlies, two late and two nights.
You will receive advance notice of shift patterns you will be required to work when you join the constabulary.
Norfolk and Suffolk Constabularies’ approach to flexible working is to give officers as much agility with their working arrangements as possible, whilst still meeting organisational needs. Both constabularies operate a formal policy, which aims to ensure all applications for flexible working are dealt with fairly, equally, and consistently for all employees irrespective of age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage or civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation, or any other justifiable grounds.
Whilst all applications for flexible working from student officers will be considered, owing to the importance of initial training, it is highly unlikely that a request for flexible working would be approved during the initial training phase (Year 1 of the training programme).
All classroom based initial learning will take place at Suffolk Police Headquarters, Martlesham Heath, Ipswich, Suffolk (IP5 3QS) for Suffolk officers and Hethersett Old Hall, Hethersett, Norwich (NR9 3DE) for Norfolk officers.
Applicants need to be aware that they can be expected to serve anywhere within their respective force area. However, every effort is made to take personal needs and circumstances into account where possible.
All students identified with neurodiversity will be offered Neurodiversity Passports and individuated support during their careers. Needs will be reassessed during different stages of their training (e.g. classroom activities, tutorship, independent patrol) to ensure that issues that may be unique to such environments are properly considered).
Training staff have had appropriate training and awareness of neurodiversity issues and how to have positive conversations with students where undiagnosed ND may be indicated. The organisation has processes in place to support staff and officers where there this occurs including referral to occupational health and appropriate assessments can be arranged.
The organisation has additional support available in the form of neurodiversity buddies and a staff support network.
Support may include the provision of reasonable adjustments, for example for those students with specific learning difficulties. The student will be supported directly by their trainer whilst at the training establishment and by the professional development unit whilst on area. Support may include but not be limited to:
Norfolk and Suffolk Constabularies are committed to ensuring their workforce is representative of the communities they serve; we have a dedicated Positive Action Advisor who can provide support and guidance throughout the recruitment application process to candidates from underrepresented groups.
For further information or advice relating to positive action visit our positive action pages.