Joining the Police
Careers in policing
Interested in joining the police service? Want to make a real difference to people’s lives? Want to develop your knowledge, behaviours, and the practical skills to protect and support diverse communities within society?
York St John University offers 4 routes into policing:
Professional Policing BA (Hons)
A pre-join, knowledge-based degree programme, focused on the profession and completed prior to applying to join the police service. This pre-join policing degree in professional policing allows you to apply to a police force on completion and follow a shorter on-the-job training programme.
Licenced by the College of Policing.
Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship (PCDA)
Degree apprenticeship programme; run in partnership with Humberside Police, completing a degree whilst working as a police officer from the outset. You will be on probation and employed by Humberside Police for the duration of the programme. You will be confirmed in post on successful completion of the programme and probationary checks. This course is licenced by the College of Policing.
Degree Holder Entry Programme (DHEP)
Graduate diploma programme, for those with an existing Level 6 degree qualification; run in partnership with Humberside Police. You will be on probation and employed by Humberside Police for the duration of the programme. You will be confirmed in post on successful completion of the programme and probationary checks. This course is licenced by the College of Policing.
Criminology with Police Studies BA (Hons)
Degree programme combining the study of crime and deviance with an exploration of the challenges and functions of modern policing.
Whichever route you take, you will be fully supported to achieve your potential.
Careers in Policing
Joining the police can be one of the most rewarding things that you will ever do. You will be able to make a real difference to real people, help struggling communities, contribute to reducing crime and making people feel safer. Being a police officer isn’t for everyone – it can be one of the most challenging careers that you can choose and is physically, mentally and emotionally demanding.
Policing is not purely about enforcement, your communication skills and ability to build relationships will be essential for a successful career. You will need to be caring and understanding when dealing with victims of crime, witnesses to crime and vulnerable people. You will be working in a fast-paced environment and will need to stay calm in pressurised situations, be prepared for unexpected events and make split-second decisions.
Career Progression
Once you are qualified as a police officer, you will have many opportunities to progress through the ranks and to go into specialist areas of policing that interest you. Opportunities to specialise could include:
- Becoming a detective
- Training to be a firearms officer
- Roads policing
- Public protection teams
- Intelligence
- Dog handler
- Mounted police
- Family liaison officer
Find out more about whether this will be the right career choice for you and take a quiz to see whether this would be a suitable career.
