Police Constable Entry Programme (PCEP)
PCEP is a two-year programme delivered in partnership with the University of the West of England. It consists of classroom, on-the-job learning and tutorship. This route is suited to military service leavers and those that do not already have a degree.
Throughout the two-year duration of the programme, successful applicants will to obtain a Level 5 Diploma in Professional Police Practice, while working and earning a full salary.
The PCEP programme is delivered in partnership with the University of the West of England (UWE Bristol) and includes classroom delivery, practical application and tutorship. The programme is split between UWE’s Frenchay and Glenside campuses and Police Headquarters in Portishead.
You will be classed as a full-time student and so will be able to take advantage of student benefits.
Successful applicants are not required to contribute towards the cost of their Level 5 qualification but remain on probation for the two-year duration of the programme.
Following completion of the two-year programme, individuals will be provided with the option to pursue an additional year of learning to obtain a bachelor’s degree.
Eligibility and suitability
For details of officer eligibility, quizzes for suitability as well as support and benefits of becoming an officer see our is policing with right for me? page.
What makes a good police officer?
For an overview of an officer’s typical day-to-day tasks and what Avon and Somerset Police expect from officers, see our what makes a good police officer? page.
Pay scales
Candidates joining through the PCEP will start on pay point one of the police constable pay scales. This will increase annually on the anniversary of your joining date.
- Year 1 (pay point 1): £29,907
- Year 2 (pay point 2): £31,164
Programme hours
As a police officer, you will be contracted to work 40 hours per week and both your classroom and on-the-job training aligns to these working hours.
While in tutorship and working as an operational police officer, you will work to a 24/7 shift pattern consisting of:
• two early shifts (07:00-16:00)
• two late shifts (14:30-23:00) and
• two nights (22:00-07:00) followed by rest days
Flexible working patterns will be considered against the requirements of service delivery but periods of learning delivery will be in 40-hour week blocks.
Programme structure
In your first six weeks, you will undertake personal protection training, driver training, system training as well as classroom learning based at Police Headquarters.
After this initial period, you will enter into tutorship working with a 24/7 response team to put your acquired skills and knowledge into practice in order to achieve Independent police status (if you have already achieved this by serving as a Special Constable you will receive coaching and mentoring on your team).
You will then follow a programme to achieve full occupational competence over a two-year probation period.
Recruitment process
Read our step-by-step recruitment process for police officers.
Ready to join us?
For military service leavers:
For those applying with equivalent experience:
Stay up to date
Find out about our latest vacancies by registering for our job alert email service, or join our Talent Bank to be contacted about suitable vacancies.
To make a recruitment-related query, contact our Talent Acquisition team.
Alternative routes into policing
Explore other routes into policing.