Pre-Join Police Officer - Professional Policing Degree Holder

Merseyside Police; Liverpool; Hybrid; GBP 32,000; Full time

Job summary

A regional law enforcement agency is seeking Student Police Officers to join their Pre-Join (Professional Policing Degree Holder) Programme. These roles require recent graduates with a Professional Policing degree, providing a salary of £31,164 and the chance to protect communities while receiving in-depth training. Officers will work shifts, including nights and weekends, and will be critical in crime prevention and community engagement efforts. Join a dedicated team committed to diversity and inclusion.

Benefits

Comprehensive training and development

Supportive work environment

Qualifications

• Must have graduated or be graduating with a Professional Policing Degree before September 2026.
• Able to adapt to various working hours, including nights and weekends.
• Must possess strong communication skills to engage with diverse community members.

Responsibilities

• Protect the community and prevent crime as part of Merseyside Police.
• Participate in training and development to achieve Independent Patrol Status.
• Support and engage with community members to build trust and safety.

Skills

Community engagement

Crisis management

Communication skills

Education

Professional Policing Degree

Job description

Overview

FIND YOUR BEAT.. Protecting your streets Caring for your community Taking pride in what you do

Student Police Officer Pre-Join (Professional Policing Degree Holder) Programme

Starting Salary: £31,164 per annum

Normal working hours: 40 hours per week - working shifts (including nights, evenings and weekends)

Various locations across Merseyside

About a Policing Career In Merseyside Police

Being a part of Merseyside Police is a unique experience. You wont just be building better communities, youll be building a career that counts. From intelligence to armed policing, however you want to specialise, well help you find your beat.

Through your studies on the Professional Policing degree, youll have gained an appreciation about the role of Police Officers being the face and voice in the community. Theyre on the ground, speaking to victims, preventing crime and making a real difference. They come from different walks of life, but are united by the same goal to keep communities safe.

Were looking for Professional Policing graduates who have already graduated or graduating before September 2026 from any of the College of Policing approved Universities the list can be found here. We want our people to reflect the communities we serve, people who can bring diversity of experience, people who are willing to protect our streets. Its not always easy, some days will be tougher than others, but the sense of pride makes it worth every second.

About Our Pre-Join (Professional Policing Degree Holder) Programme

You will be employed as a Police Officer from day one and receive a starting salary of £31,164 per annum. The Professional Policing Degree Holder programme is based on the national curriculum for the Police Constable role, therefore applicants on this entry route will enjoy a shorter on-the-job training programme. Your probation period will be two years and upon successful completion of this, you will be signed off as a fully competent Police Officer. Our proposed force pre-join programme structure will aim to get student officers to Independent Patrol Status by week 27.

The proposed structure for this programme incorporates induction-based inputs (e.g. standards and values, I.T.), law and police powers refresher sessions particularly in relation to Protecting Vulnerable People, skills development sessions and exercises to assist both the student officers and the force to determine the current knowledge and understanding levels of student officers.

Whilst the current Pre-Join programme is not directly linked to becoming a detective, please be aware, albeit vacancies exist and after completion of your probationary period, you will be able to request participation on our internal CID AIDES programme should you wish to embark on this career pathway to become a detective.

About Our Commitment To Diversity, Equality, And Inclusion

Building a workforce that represents our communities is important to us. We aim to attract & keep people with the best skills & highest potential. We want to attract a diverse range of individuals into our force who might not have considered a career with us before.

We particularly welcome applications from women and black & ethnic minority candidates.

To help us achieve a workforce that represents our communities, we have a dedicated team working to encourage people from diverse communities to build their career with us. They provide support & guidance throughout the application process to candidates from under-represented groups.

If you require any reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process, please let us know. We will work with you to ensure you have the support you need.

Contact us to find out more about the support on offer from our dedicated Outreach team

About Our Recruitment Process

This campaign is to fulfil possible intake dates in May 2026 and September 2026 and we are now offering this exciting opportunity to apply to be on this programme.

To undertake the Pre Join Programme, you will need to meet the minimum criteria as outlined on our Policing information page under Am I eligible to apply.

• Apply online using the Apply button below
• If you have not yet obtained your degree, when applying, please answer "yes" to the question; "do you have a degree in Professional Policing?" and upload your transcript of your final academic year.
• If you meet our eligibility criteria, you will be invited to complete the National Sift which you will need to complete as soon as possible
• If you are successful at National Sift, you will be invited to complete the Online Assessment Centre (OAC) or you can contact us if you already have an assessment pass.
• Following a successful result of the OAC, there are additional stages you may be expected to progress through including interview and will be made a conditional offer and invited to commence pre-employment checks these include fitness test, biometrics (fingerprints and DNA), references, medical appointment and vetting.

Your application is important to us, and we will aim to progress all candidates in line with the above with the intention of offering them a place on the next available proposed intakes; however, this is dependent on the numbers of applications we receive, and we are unable to guarantee that we can consider you for this intake.

If in the event you have trouble uploading your qualifications / tattoo images, please send them at the time of application.

Internal applicants must apply externally using a personal email address.

Join us and you'll be on the ground, preventing crime and making a real difference to people's lives. It's not always easy, it's not always predictable, but the sense of reward and excitement is like nothing else.

Nothing beats being a Merseyside Police Officer

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