The recruitment process
Step 1
On receiving your application form it will be checked for eligibility, and your competency questions marked by an external company. If your application is successful you will go on to Step 2.
Step 2
The next stage of the Recruitment process involves attendance at an Assessment Centre.
Two weeks before attending the Assessment centre you will be sent material for it. At the centre you will be tested on your written English skills, verbal reasoning, oral skills and your mathematical skills.
These will be tested in a number of ways, interview, role-play and written tests.
If you are successful you will proceed to Steps 3 & 4. Unsuccessful candidates will be provided with feedback from Centrex on their performance.
Steps 3 & 4
You will be invited to attend a medical and a fitness test. These may be on separate days.
Offers of appointment are subject to references and security checks. The references given in your application will be taken up and a security check will be conducted.
Security checks can take a while if you have lived abroad for any period of time.
Finally
The Home Office does not endorse training courses advertised as assisting with the recruitment process. All the information you need is contained here and in the packs that you will receive. No other material is needed.
Fitness Test
To ensure you are fit enough, you will undertake a fitness test. There are two elements to the test, dynamic strength and endurance fitness and you must pass them all before you can be appointed. But don't worry, the test is not difficult.
We are looking for no more than the minimum standard needed to enable you to work effectively as a police officer. You will be given help to improve your fitness and if you prepare yourself properly, there is no reason for you to fail.
Even if you don't pass the test at your first attempt you will be allowed to re-take it. However, if you fail the test after three attempts your application will be halted and you will not be eligible to re-apply for six months.
Once you are appointed you will need to maintain your fitness and you will be regularly assessed during probation.
Dynamic strength
Your dynamic strength will be assessed by the use of a machine called the Dyno machine. The test involves performing five seated chest pushes and five seated back pulls on the machine. The average force of the sum of the five pushes and the average force of the sum of the five pulls will be recorded.
You will need an average of 34 kg's to pass the push test, and an average of 35kgs to pass the pull test.
Endurance
In this element you will be asked to run to and fro along a 15 metre track in time with a series of bleeps.
If you arrive at the end line before the bleep sounds you need to wait for the bleep before resuming running and adjust your speed. The timing between bleeps is slow at first but the bleep becomes faster as the test progresses and it becomes more difficult to keep up with the required speed.
You will need to reach a minimum of four shuttles at level 5 to pass.
General Training Tips
Due to the scheduling of the recruitment process, little notice may be given of the test dates, so you should start training now for your fitness test.
Try to train as much as possible with friends as this will make your exercise programme a more enjoyable and safer activity.
Try to monitor your progress by recording times taken, distances covered and recovery times. This will give you feedback on improvements and will give you an incentive to continue training.
Set yourself targets that can be realistically achieved. This will help motivate you.
Do not overdo your training. Start gently and build up gradually over a period of weeks or months.
Try to spread fitness sessions out rather than playing squash, weight training and swimming all in one day and then doing nothing else for the rest of the week.