Professional Policing Practice

From day one, you’re a police officer. You’ll combine real operational work with classroom learning, gaining essential skills in emergency response, safeguarding, investigations, and leadership.

As you complete each stage, you’ll build a strong foundation of experience and qualifications. Unlocking a wide range of potential routes in your future policing career: specialist roles like detective work, community protection, or leadership positions. On top of that, the academic degree gives you recognition and credibility, helping you grow steadily in rank and responsibility.

You’ll begin your training with classroom-based learning at a local study centre, before joining an operational policing team where you’ll put your skills into practice.

Your training covers a wide range of areas, from officer safety and emergency life support to safeguarding, crime investigation and core policing skills, all based on the national policing curriculum.

As you progress, you’ll take part in work-based learning, fully supported as you apply new knowledge on duty. From day one, you’ll be a police officer, gaining real experience while making a difference in your community. This mix of study and practice helps you build the skills and confidence needed for a demanding but rewarding role.

• Introduction to Professional Policing
• Application of Police Powers
• Protection and Vulnerability
• Practical Policing
• Policing Communities
• Response and Crime Investigation
• Understanding Vulnerability
• Evidence Based Policing
• Policing, Leadership and Professional Development
• End Point Assessment and Evidence Based Policing
• Leadership and Coaching

You’ll need to pass both operational and academic assessments to get awarded a degree and becoming a fully-fledged police officer. All assessments are designed to test the skills, knowledge and qualities required to be an officer.

You will have to complete several different assessments throughout the course. These include:

• written reflective reports
• essays
• exams
• presentations (both group and individual)
• and digital artefacts (e.g. a case study blog or podcast).

Alongside academic assessments, you'll also need to compile an Operational Competence Portfolio over the duration of the apprenticeship. You'll need to pass several operational assessments against a range of critical policing skills. These include:

• 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.

In your final year, you will be required to complete the End Point Assessment, which will be made up of the following:

• a professional discussion based on your Operational Competence Portfolio
• a 10,000-word research project based on your policing specialism
• a presentation and Assessment Panel discussion.

You will also be required to evidence operational competence in several areas, such as:

• providing effective initial response to a critical incident
• engaging proactively with communities
• conducting effective evaluations of intelligence

In successfully obtaining the apprenticeship and its associated degree you will need to provide satisfactory evidence that you have achieved the necessary knowledge, skills and behaviours (KSB) set out in the apprenticeship standard. Further information about the KSBs can be found at the Institute of Apprenticeships website.