Graduate Diploma - Professional Policing Practice

Most of your training will take place on the job with Bedfordshire Police, Cambridgeshire Constabulary, Hertfordshire Constabulary, Norfolk Constabulary or Suffolk Constabulary.

You’ll work alongside experienced police officers with work-based study and attendance at regional police training centres.

This training is delivered as a partnership between your employing Force and ARU. The first part of your study will take place at a regional police centre. However, you’ll spend most of your training on the job, working as part of your local policing team alongside experienced officers and fully supported in putting your learning into practice.

You’ll start your training with an initial period of classroom-based learning at a study centre in your region and join an operational policing team in which you will be working.

Throughout your training you’ll undertake work-based learning, where you’ll be fully supported in applying new skills and knowledge as part of your operational duties. You’ll be immersed in day-to-day policing. This will let you contextualise what you are learning and enable you to develop the skills and experience you need for this challenging role, while actively contributing to policing priorities in your area as a fully employed police officer from day one.

• Introduction to Policing, Police Law and Powers
• Protection, Vulnerability and Response Policing
• Investigating Crime
• Intelligence and Community Policing
• Developing Officer Potential

You’ll need to successfully complete both operational and academic assessments before being awarded the Graduate Diploma and becoming a substantive Police Constable. All assessments have been specifically designed to test the skills, knowledge and qualities required to be an officer.

Academic assessments include:

• written reflective reports and essays,
• in-class tests, presentations (both group and individual)
• and unfolding problem scenarios.

You will also be required to sit the National Investigators Exam (NIE). Alongside academic assessments, you will also need to compile an Operational Competence Portfolio over the duration of the programme and pass several operational assessments against a range of critical policing skills, including:

• providing effective initial response to a critical incident,
• engaging proactively with communities,
• conducting effective evaluation of intelligence,
• and providing support to vulnerable people, victims and witnesses.

You’ll also be required to compile a portfolio as part of the Professionalising Investigations Programme (PIP) Level 2.