Police Constable Entry Programme (PCEP) February 2027

Congratulations! You’ve taken the first step and you’re now one step closer to the best career decision you’ll ever make. Police officers within Northamptonshire Police will be at the forefront of maintaining law and order, protecting the vulnerable, and ensuring the safety of our community. Becoming a police officer can be challenging at times but is a rewarding career as it opens opportunities to develop personally and professionally whilst making a positive difference to your community.

The new Police Constable entry programme (PCEP) is a 2-year based scheme aimed at people who wish to become a Police Constable through a more vocational route with no studying towards a degree. This will give you the opportunity to be employed as an officer from day one. You will be provided with a solid foundation of policing and receive support from our dedicated in-house training team. As a police officer you will play a vital role ensuring that our communities in Northamptonshire are kept safe; therefore, the team will teach you new skills to equip you to begin your journey as a police officer. After approximately 31 weeks you will reach independent patrol status and then you will be patrolling without a tutor for the remainder of the two-year programme. Once you have completed your 2-year probationary programme, you will be able to consider further opportunities including promotions and specialism depending on your interests and aspirations within the force. You could choose to work within road policing, firearms, dog handler, CID, neighbourhood etc.

What’s in it for you? You are on your way to earning a highly competitive salary, starting at £31,164 and rising to £50,256. It’s a job where no two days are the same and is both challenging and rewarding. You will receive an excellent pension, annual leave, personal support and advice, free access to support services, free access to sport and social club facilities, and you will qualify for a Blue Light Discount Card.

Eligibility

• We are looking for people from all backgrounds who share our vision and values to join us.

Academic requirements: You must have ONE of the following at the point of applying:

• Two UK A-Level or equivalent qualification
• An academic or vocational qualification gained outside of England and Wales which is considered by the UK National Recognition Information Centre to be equivalent to a level 3 qualification.

Please note: You will need to provide certificates for any qualifications you declare on your application. If you do not have these, please contact recruitment@northants.police.uk who will be able to advise you. If you don’t hold a Level 3 qualification or A levels but have at least one year professional experience working in areas such as those listed on our website, we encourage you to apply.

Age: You must be 17 or over to be eligible to apply but you must be 18 before a final offer of appointment can be made. There is no upper age limit for the appointment; however, please bear in mind that the normal retirement age for an officer is 60 years of age, but can take their pension from Age 55.

Driving Licence: Applicants are required to hold a full UK manual driving licence at the point of applying for this role.

Nationality: If you are from outside the UK, it's essential that you have leave to enter or to remain in the UK for an indefinite period.

Residency: A minimum residency criterion of three years within the UK applies before candidates can be considered for the Police.

Criminal conviction/caution: Ideally, you should not have a criminal conviction or cautions record. If you do have one, your application may be rejected, although we may consider your age at the time and nature of the offence.

Membership of groups or organisations: We will not accept applications from anyone who is, or has been, a member of the British National Party, Combat 18, National Front or similar organisation.

Recruitment Process

• National application form
• Eligibility sift
• National sift (we accept in date transferred scores)
• National Online Assessment (we accept in date transferred scores)
• Force interview and presentation
• Pre-employment Checks including Vetting, Fitness, Medical, Eyesight, Drugs, Biometric, References
• Uniform Fitting

The dates below set out the time frame for this recruitment process and are subject to change.

• Recruitment Open: 24/03/2026
• Recruitment Close: 21/06/2026
• Eligibility Sift: W/C 22/06/2026
• National Sift: From W/C 22/06/2026
• Online Assessment Centre: 20/08/2026
• In house Interview: From W/C 28/09/2026
• Fitness: From TBC
• Drugs, Biometric: TBC
• Uniform Fitting: TBC
• Cohort Start Date: 8th February 2027

If you are not available for any stages of the process for any reason, we may not be able to process your application as alternative dates may not be available.

We know that this is a life-changing role, and we want to help you through the recruitment process as much as possible. We have a range of support services available to help you, which we encourage you to take advantage of. We run workshops that help you through assessment centre and interview preparation. Find out how you can attend these free sessions by contacting us for details or email us any questions or queries on Recruitment@northants.pnn.police.uk or call on 03000111222 Ext 342401.

As a service, we are committed to working towards a workforce that reflects the diverse communities we proudly serve. To this end, we have a dedicated Positive Action Team that ensures we recruit from the widest possible talent including those from ethnic minority communities, women, and the LGBTQ+ community. To find out more please visit www.PositiveActionPolice.co.uk.

Northamptonshire Police is a Disability Confident Employer.

Here are some important facts about joining the Police Service: The police are available to help, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, all year round. As a police officer, you are expected to be flexible and there may be occasions where while dealing with an incident that you will not be able to leave immediately at the end of your shift. During your probation period, you will be expected to work three weekends on and two weekends off. Your shifts will vary days, evenings, nights, and weekend shifts. However, we understand that you will have family and social commitments and we make every effort to be flexible, let you have your shift patterns in advance and try to manage work-life balance. While we do have some officers that work part-time, you won’t be able to do this immediately. In due course, you may wish to discuss flexible working with your line manager.

The role of an officer is varied and challenging, and you will be exposed to situations that you will not encounter before, including attending serious injury road collisions, violent situations, and even death. However, you will be provided with training and support and the skills to deal with these scenarios. The role requires you to be resilient, with effective communication and problem-solving skills and be able to work under pressure. You will be learning all the time and the reward you get from helping people in need is a key reason why police officers have joined.

Every police force has a rank structure where it’s important to be able to follow instruction. As an officer, you have significant powers in serving and protecting the public which comes with responsibility and accountability. We expect everyone, regardless of rank or role, to commit to ethical behaviour and values. If we are to police the public, then everyone needs to deliver to the highest standard.

Please note that pre-booked annual leave will not be approved during the training period. You will be given planned annual leave during your initial training period as set out by the training team. FAILURE TO UPLOAD YOUR QUALIFICATION CERTIFICATE WILL DELAY YOUR APPLICATION BEING PROGRESSED TO THE NEXT STAGE IN THE PROCESS.