Police constable (integrated degree)

Degree apprenticeship (integrated degree) · Protective services route · Standard ST0304 v1.2

Level: 6
Typical duration: 36 months (about 3 years)
Max funding band: £27,000
Route: Protective services
Regulated by: College of Policing

Upholding law and order through the detection, prevention and investigation of crime.

About the role

Police Constables (PCs) are found in the Home Office police forces and also in some non-Home Office police forces. They predominantly work in, though are not restricted to, the communities within each of their designated force geographical boundaries, to use their authority for the protection of life and property, maintenance or order, prevention of crime and prosecution of offenders. PCs have a unique status, as Crown Servants and/or warranted officers; each sworn constable is an independent legal official with each officer having personal responsibility for their actions or inactions. Police forces differ in regional size, organisational headcount and the population that they each serve.

The broad purpose of the occupation is to prevent and detect crime in compliance with authorised professional practice (APP), working in partnership on a day-to-day basis with local communities, stakeholders and colleagues in order to promote law and order, reduce the fear of crime, provide reassurance and build confidence to improve the quality of life for citizens. In undertaking their role whilst traditionally working shifts predominantly in the public arena, PCs are required to meet and maintain the highest of professional standards by conducting all actions in a legal, balanced, proportionate and justifiable manner to uphold the law and achieve the best outcomes for society when necessary by bringing offenders to justice across a wide range of situations or incidents.

In their daily work a PC may interact with colleagues at all levels of seniority within their organisation. Outside of their organisation they will liaise and work with external stakeholders at all levels, within networks and institutions, ranging from those in other police and judicial and social organisations, such as social services, NHS, crown prosecution service, as well as other community-based groups or organisations such as schools, victim and welfare support groups and members of the public, both collectively and individually.

A PC in undertaking their duties either independently or within a small team, will need to maintain an operational level of fitness, use emotional intelligence and appropriate communication skills, use proportionate levels of force, behave in a consistent and ethical manner whilst having the ability to analyse and resolve rapidly evolving events. PCs exercise wide-ranging powers to maintain the peace and uphold the law across complex and diverse communities. They will provide an initial autonomous response to incidents, which can be complex, confrontational and life-threatening, to bring about the best possible outcomes. They must justify and personally account for their actions through differing legal frameworks including courts, while also under the scrutiny of the public.

Competent PCs gather information and intelligence in order to conduct risk and threat analysis across wide-ranging, multi-faceted situations. These can include investigating incidents and crimes, handling suspects, managing searches, crime scenes and all types of evidence. They will work safely and lawfully, intelligently applying a wide range and depth of general and specialist skills, knowledge and behaviours to many different and increasingly complex policing contexts to confidently deal with modern day policing issues.

Increasingly PCs are individually responsible for determining, applying and evaluating practice, based on the best available evidence. Known as evidence-based policing, this will at times involve developing localised strategic partnerships to problem-solve, engage with, reassure and support organisations, groups and individuals across diverse communities.

Whilst not typically being responsible for departmental budgets, they need an awareness of resource and demand issues that may be present within policing, as well as looking to use sustainable practices, including IT based ones, to protect themselves, others and their environment.

How it compares

At 36 months (about 3 years), it is about average length for a degree-level apprenticeship (the average across all 172 Level 6+ standards is 39 months).

The funding band — the maximum an employer's levy can contribute to training costs — is £27,000, at or above the £21,500 average for degree-level standards. Apprentices never pay tuition either way.

Typical job titles

Intelligence officer
Local policing/community officer
Police officer
Response officer
Roads policing officer
Volume and priority investigator

Entry requirements

These will vary from force to force. A PC will be 18 or older, and is typically likely to have achieved a Level 3 qualification (or equivalent).

Formal guidance on entry requirements for the Police Constable can be found in the following document: Annex BA - Policing Qualifications and Experience” (“Annex BA”). The amendments come into force on 1 April 2024: Annex BA (amendments): policing qualifications and experience - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Entry requirements are ultimately set by each employer — treat these as the baseline, not the bar.

What you come out with

BSC/ BA (Hons) degree in Professional Policing Practice — Level 6 (integrated degree)
Professional recognition: College of Policing — Police Constable

What you'll learn

The official standard defines 15 core duties, 23 knowledge areas, 20 skills, 5 behaviours. This is the actual assessed content of the apprenticeship — worth reading before an interview, because competency questions are usually written straight from these lists.

Core duties 15

Operate in accordance with the law, authorised professional practice and the Code of ethics in line with legal and professional practice requirements.
Follow appropriate processes for the management of information and intelligence.
Provide an initial response to policing incidents in line with legal and professional practice requirements.
Manage conflict in a professional policing context.
Provide support to vulnerable people, victims and witnesses.
Use police powers to deal with suspects.
Conduct safe, lawful and effective police searches of premises, vehicles and outside spaces.
Conduct police searches of individuals in line with legal and organisational requirements.
Conduct priority and volume investigations.
Interview victims, witnesses and suspects.
Communicate and proactively engage with communities.
Provide an effective initial response to a critical incident.
Use roads policing prevention and enforcement methods to reduce driving and vehicle offences.
Analyse and evaluate information and intelligence to inform policing activities.
Conduct more complex investigations.

Knowledge 23

Ethics and values of professional policing, including duty of care, service delivery, employment practice, efficiency, effectiveness and value for money, code of ethics, professional standards, and equality, diversity, inclusion and human rights.
The role of the police constable, key cross-cutting and inter-dependent areas of policing, including roles and responsibilities of multi-agency organisations and the different partners police collaborate with locally and nationally.
Legal and professional requirements of authorised professional practice (APP), to inform policing practice, including specialist interrelated contemporary theories, ideas, and methods to prevent and detect crime in an operational policing context.
How to respond to incidents, preserve scenes and secure evidence.
Requirements for managing and resolving conflict safely and lawfully.
Recognise the fundamental responsibility, specialist interrelated contemporary theories, ideas and methods to deal with suspects and offenders, including arresting, detaining, and reporting individuals.
How to conduct priority and volume investigations.
The importance of aligning to and acting upon the principles of ethical interviewing of victims, witnesses, and suspects in the criminal justice system.
How to systematically gather, submit, store and share information and intelligence to further policing-related outcomes.
The importance of aligning to and acting upon the principles of conducting ethical searches of individuals, vehicles, premises, outside and virtual spaces.
The concepts and practice relating to digital policing, cyber enabled crime, and how to optimise the use of available technology and specialist support including digital forensic investigation to maximise the recovery of digital evidence.
The importance of managing health and safety risks for self and others, including ongoing wellbeing and resilience relating to psychological stress and trauma, and how and where to access organisational and professional support.
How to engage independent thinking to interpret and apply all appropriate law, including the use of discretion, where appropriate as it relates to any encountered policing situation, incident, or context.
Social behaviour and society, including their origins, development, organisation, networks, and institutions as related to policing across diverse and increasingly complex communities.
Specialist interrelated contemporary theories, ideas, and methods to support individuals in policing situations including victims, witnesses and the vulnerable.
Established principles and strategies for evidenced based policing and problem-solving to inform decision-making and actions across policing.
Recognise how legislation, policy, and procedure at local, national and international level informs policing practice in relation to response, community, investigation, intelligence and roads policing.
Research methodologies to ensure a systematic evidence-based approach to preventative policing, including how to identify the appropriate research design, critically analyse, interpret, implement, share and evaluate findings to create positive policing outcomes.
Concepts of how policing contributes to environmental, economic and social sustainability goals at individual, force, national and international level.
The use of reflective practice theories to inform policing and the professional development of an individual.
The current political, economic, social, technological, environmental, legal and ethical discussions impacting the day-to-day policing situations police constables face.
Communication techniques to give and receive information, adapting style to audience, using influencing techniques and appropriate terminology, and overcoming barriers to communication including internally, with colleagues, other teams and departments, other police forces, and externally via social media, collaborative organisations and the public, including vulnerable people.
Theories and concepts of leadership across policing, including the limits of their authority and the actions they can take in line with organisational policy, including escalation procedures.

Skills 20

Apply authorised professional practice (APP) within day-to-day policing contexts in line with local policing policies.
Identify, organise, engage, and clearly communicate information with a range of stakeholders to manage planned and dynamic situations, which influence and lead others in a policing context.
Gather, handle, store, disclose and analyse information and intelligence from relevant sources, in line with organisational policies and procedures to support law enforcement and to maximise policing effectiveness.
Apply an open investigative mind-set whilst cognisant of the code of ethics and national decision-making model.
Manage dynamic conflict situations through leadership, taking personal accountability for the use of proportionate and justifiable responses and actions.
Manage ethical searches for evidence and information in differing environments, including searching of people, vehicles and open spaces.
Provide an initial, autonomous and risk assessed response to incidents, including complex and confrontational, to bring about the best possible outcomes.
Provide an initial, autonomous response to crime scenes, that require the management and preservation of evidence and exhibits.
Provide leadership at policing incidents and situations providing empathetic support to protect the public including the most vulnerable.
Manage and conduct priority and volume investigations by identifying, evaluating and acting upon appropriate lines of enquiry including digital evidence, to enable the presenting of permissible evidence to authorities where required.
Use police powers to deal with suspects including arrest, report and alternative disposal options.
Interview victims, witnesses and suspects, inclusive of vulnerable persons in accordance with investigative standards contained within Authorised Professional Practice and use of the PEACE model.
Assess risk and threats demonstrating critical thinking using the national decision-making model, in order to select and apply specialist techniques to support individuals in need of public protection.
Use discretion when applying powers across policing situations ensuring these are proportionate, legal, accountable and necessary.
Engage in self-reflection to improve own professional practice in future operational activities.
Apply reflection strategies to existing policy and practice recommending innovative approaches to policing.
Engage with individuals and collaborate with organisations in the community, to enhance effective teamworking in order to achieve positive outcomes for public reassurance, safety and well-being.
Critically apply problem-solving techniques to prevention interventions to inform decision-making and actions in policing environments.
Apply local organisational sustainable practices.
Embed organisational led good practice requirements for equality, diversity and inclusivity in decision making in policing situations.

Behaviours 5

Be accountable and take ownership for own role and responsibilities inclusive of own development and professional workload, whilst being effective and willing to take appropriate, justifiable risks.
Maintain the highest standards of professionalism and trustworthiness, making sure that values, moral codes and ethical standards are consistently upheld, including challenging others where appropriate.
Recognise and apply techniques to manage emotions in stressful situations, understanding motivations and underlying reasons for own behaviour and that of others, including showing empathy to colleagues, the public and other service users.
Be professionally inquisitive and open minded to critically exploring evidence-based research and practice in order to identify creative problem-solving methods.
Role model the police service’s values in day-to-day activities, providing inspiration, trust, confidence and clarity to colleagues and stakeholders across teams.

Live vacancies

No live vacancies for this course as of 2026-07-24 — new adverts appear on Find an apprenticeship daily, and many degree apprenticeship employers recruit on their own careers sites instead.

Universities registered to deliver it

21 universities are on the government provider register for this standard. Registration means they can deliver it — live vacancies depend on employer partnerships each recruitment cycle.

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Official sources

Occupational summary, duties, knowledge, skills and behaviours reproduced from the ST0304 apprenticeship standard (last updated 2025-04-01) — contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Always check the official page before applying: standards get revised.