What are the requirements to become a police officer?

Are you interested in becoming a UK police officer and wondering how you can do it? In that case, you should read the following article and find out all the necessary requirements to become a police officer in the United Kingdom as well as a comprehensive step by step guide on how to become a police officer.

Application procedure

If you want to become a UK police officer, you should first fill an application form. Application may seem as the easy part, but it is actually the hardest. Every year more than fifty thousand individuals apply to be police officers, but only a 25% of them successfully pass the application stage. A successful application must demonstrate understanding of seven key areas, namely race and diversity, community and customer focus, problem solving, effective communication, resilience, team working and personal responsibility. Keep in mind though that you must obtain the required level in each area and not an overall pass mark.

Assessment centre

The assessment procedure If you successfully pass the application process, you will be asked to attend an assessment centre. The assessment procedure lasts approximately four to five hours aims at testing your physical and mental capacity. The assessment procedure starts with a small interview. Common interview questions are ‘why do you want to become a police officer’ and ‘why do you want to join a particular force’. The assessment also includes a numerical and a verbal logical reasoning test, two written and four interactive exercises. Yet, you should keep in mind that police forces may call you for a second interview, after the assessment centre.

Medical test

After successfully completing the assessment process, you will be asked to complete a medical questionnaire and provide detailed information about your medical history. You will be evaluated by a doctor and you will be asked to attend a full medical and a drug and alcohol test.

Fitness Test

The Fitness Test
The Fitness Test aims at measuring the ability of police officer candidates to undertake every day police work. The Fitness Test consists of three stages, namely the dynamic strength test, the grip strength and the endurance test. Note that you have the opportunity to retake each test two times.