Course summary

Policing is an incredibly rewarding career and allows you to truly make a difference to a community while giving you the opportunity to protect members of the public. This pre-join policing degree is an entry route into the police force designed to prepare new recruits to meet the demands of 21st-century policing. This course aims to provide you with the opportunity to study for a degree, and then apply to a force and follow a shorter on-the-job training programme to become a police constable or a special constable. This exciting course focuses on the main challenges a 21st-century police officer faces, such as protecting the vulnerable, digital policing and counter-terrorism measures. It also provides a foundation knowledge of the role of a police constable and the five core areas of professional policing practice: response policing, policing communities, policing the roads, information and intelligence, and conducting investigations. This vocational degree meets the standards set by the College of Policing’s Policing Education Qualification Framework (PEQF). These are used by police forces across England and Wales as part of the categorised modes of entry into the policing profession. The degree is designed so that you will undertake the learning as set out by the PEQF, attain a Professional Policing BA (Hons), and be equipped with the requisite skills and knowledge to be able to apply to the police force either as a police constable or through the direct entry detective pathway. After graduating, you will then be able to apply to become a police constable. Any student undertaking the Licensees Degree in Professional Policing should be aware that there is no guarantees of entry to a police force post-completion of the Degree in Professional Policing. The recruitment process for joining police forces is separate and that each police force has its own entry requirements. Completion of the pre-join policing degree does not guarantee recruitment as a trainee police constable, but it is one of the three entry routes into the policing profession as of 2020. It is important to note that for progression into a career in the police force, a Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check will be carried out. Please note that any previous convictions may have an impact on whether you can join the police force. If you choose to leave the degree course after successfully passing Year 1, you will be eligible for a Higher National Certificate (HNC) in Policing Practice. If you choose to leave the degree course after successfully passing Year 2, you will be eligible for a Higher National Diploma (HND) in Policing Practice. For the most up-to-date information about course modules, sandwich years or part-time learning, please visit our website.