Police Community Support Officer (September 2025 Intake)

Gwent Police; Newport; On-site; GBP 26,000 - 29,000; Full time

Job summary

An established industry player is seeking dedicated individuals to become Police Community Support Officers (PCSOs). This role involves being a visible presence in the community, fostering trust, and addressing local issues. As a PCSO, you will engage with the public, manage anti-social behaviour, and gather crucial intelligence. The position offers a structured training program, generous benefits, and the chance to make a real difference in people's lives. If you are passionate about community service and possess strong communication skills, this opportunity could be your calling!

Benefits

Generous annual leave entitlement

Employee Assistance programme

Free access to on-site gyms

Discounts via Blue Light Scheme

Cycle to Work Scheme

Flexible working opportunities

Local government pension scheme

Generous maternity/paternity leave

Sick pay provisions

Membership option for UNISON

Qualifications

• Candidates must be minimum 17 years old at application, 18 at employment.
• Must hold GCSE A*-C in English and Maths or equivalent.

Responsibilities

• Conduct foot patrols and engage with the community.
• Address anti-social behaviour and gather intelligence.
• Resolve community issues and build trust.

Skills

Excellent communication skills

Strong ethical values

Problem solving skills

Resilience

Compassionate

Confident in control

Education

GCSE A*-C in English and Maths

Level 2 Functional Skills qualification

Job description

Police Community Support Officer (September 2025 intake)

Do you care about making a difference in the job you do? Then becoming a Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) could be for you.

As a uniform presence in your community, you will play a key part in building trust and confidence by supporting us to deliver our Neighbourhood Policing Strategy to our communities.

Police Community Support Officers (PCSO's) act as a key liaison point between local communities and policing. Publicly facing, they provide a visible, accessible and approachable uniformed presence in the community to offer reassurance, diffuse situations with threats of conflict, improve confidence and trust, gather information and foster good community relations.

What tasks will I be doing?

• Carrying out foot patrols
• Engagement with the community and building trust and confidence
• Reducing and dealing with anti-social behaviour
• Gathering intelligence
• Resolving community issues and problem solving

What values and skills will I need?

• Excellent communication skills
• Strong ethical values – have the integrity and values to hold a position of trust and responsibility
• Caring and compassionate
• Problem solving skills
• Resilience
• Confident to take control of situations
• Care about making a difference in your community

Pay And Benefits

Scale 4 - £26,106 - £28,653 per annum (earning potential from £29k to £32k approx including shift allowance and weekend enhancement).

Shift allowance of a maximum of 12.5 % depending on location and precise working hours. Weekend working time and half for Saturday and Sunday.

Hours are 8am to 10pm shift pattern operational over 7 days a week.

Police Community Support Officer Requirements

• Candidates must be a minimum 17 years at the time of submitting an application but MUST be 18 years of age at the time of commencing employment.
• Candidates must be within a BMI range of between 18 - 32, or be able to achieve being in this range by July 2025.
• Candidates must be able to complete a shuttle run (bleep test) up to level 5:4.
• Candidate will need to hold and evidence GCSE A*-C (4-9) in English and Maths or Level 2 Functional Skills qualification in English and Maths. If you do not hold an equivalent level 2 qualification you will need to successfully pass the online verbal reasoning and calculation test.
• Hold a full UK manual driving licence or obtain this within 12 months of appointment.

Application Process

• Eligibility criteria including confirmation of your qualifications (you will be required to upload and evidence your level 2 English and Maths certificate at the same time as you submit your application).
• You will be invited to complete the National sift as part of the process (this consists of two exercises: the situational judgement test (SJT) and a behavioural styles questionnaire (BSQ). These exercises are used to assess capabilities, strengths and behaviours that are important within the role you have applied for).
• Application form. You will be required to input your personal details.
• Following your application and the completion of the online tests, successful candidates will be invited to attend an interview. The Competency and Values Framework is also available to download, this will give you an overview of the attributes and values that will be assessed at interview stage.
• If you are successful at interview stage you will be required to attend pre-employment checks.

Training Information

Your initial training period will be for 9 weeks (Monday-Friday) and you will be supported by our dedicated in-house training team.

This will involve role plays and practical sessions to really make sure you understand everything fully. You’ll come out of it with the essential skills and knowledge that you can put into practice. And not only that - sharing this experience with your classmates can build strong relationships that last well into your future career.

You’ll also have one day of Welsh training and will also complete a 15 weeks tutorship after the classroom-based training where you will complete a competency based portfolio.

At the end of your training phase your tutor will assess you – if you’re ready, you’ll be assigned to your new rota. You can now start going out on independent patrol!

Please note there is an 18-month tenure attached to this post.

Recruitment Information – Pre-employment Checks

Please be aware if successful with the online assessments and interview you will be required to be available for the following dates:

• Interviews: DATES TBC

Pre-Employment Checks

• Drugs / Bio-metric Tests: DATES TBC
• Fitness Test: DATES TBC
• Occupational Health Checks (Multiple dates available): DATES TBC

Start Dates

• Provisional start date will be Monday 8th September 2025.

For more support and advice please contact [e-mail]

Drop-in Sessions with the Positive Action Team

Come meet us at our drop-in sessions to learn about the PCSO role and ask us any questions around the application process.

Date: Monday 7th April 2025
Time: 10:30-14:30
Location: Newport Riverfront, Kingsway, NP20 1HG

What Are Our Benefits

Here at Gwent Police, we value our employees, and we provide ample support and training to ensure you excel in your role, alongside receiving benefits such as:

• Generous annual leave entitlement that rises to either 29 or 30 days depending on grade plus 8 bank holidays
• Employee Assistance programme and a range of wellbeing support programmes
• Free access to on-site gyms
• Discounts from various retailers via the Blue Light Scheme and Vectis Card
• Cycle to Work Scheme
• Hybrid/Agile working (role dependant)
• Flexible working opportunities
• Local government pension scheme
• Range of support networks
• Generous maternity/paternity and adoption leave entitlements
• Generous sick pay provisions
• Option to become a member of UNISON, the public service union

Diversity and Welsh language

To enable us to deliver outstanding policing for everyone, we need people from all backgrounds, with a range of professional and life experiences, so that we are truly representative of our communities.

Gwent Police provide a positive action support programme for underrepresented groups. To find out more please email Brian & Clare via [e-mail] or visit our positive action page.

We are proud to be a Welsh speaking policing service and welcome applications from candidates with Welsh Language skills.

Disability Confident Employer

We are recognised as a disability confident employer, we aim to recruit and retain disabled people, and people with health conditions, for their skills and talent. You can indicate on your application form whether you require any support or adjustments to enable you to do the job, or to assist you with your application.