Selection

The four stages

Since 17 March 2026 every candidate for appointment as a constable in England and Wales, other than an officer transferring from another force, has had to pass the same four stages: a national application form, a national sift test, an online assessment process and an in-person interview that meets a national standard. The College of Policing sets the content of each stage and the timeframe for completing it, and its online assessment page, last updated 21 July 2026, gives the same order.

The College's candidate guide predates the regulations and still offers a choice between an in-force sift and the national sift; the regulations now require the national sift. The College says no prior knowledge of policing, law or procedure is needed: selection tests behaviour, not knowledge, which is why this page sits beside the route in rather than the training units.

The national sift

Two untimed exercises, scored automatically by the platform. The situational judgement test presents 15 scenarios a constable may face, each with four possible actions, and the candidate rates the effectiveness of every action on a scale from counterproductive to very effective. The College page allows about 45 minutes for it; the candidate guide says about 30. The behavioural styles questionnaire presents 80 statements about typical behaviour and preferences at work and asks how far the candidate agrees with each, in about 20 minutes.

The two scores are combined and placed against a comparison group of constable applicants, expressed as a percentile. Candidates are told whether they met the national standard and receive a feedback report.

The online assessment

Three exercises, sent as three links in one invitation, completed alone and without prepared notes. Notes prepared beforehand, or conduct contrary to the Code of Ethics, may bring an automatic fail, which cannot be appealed.

The competency-based interview is a recorded video interview of five structured questions about how the candidate has dealt with past situations, from work or personal life. Each question is read out on video with prompts on screen; the candidate has one minute to prepare and five to record an answer, about 40 minutes in all. The guide suggests the STAR structure (situation, task, action, result) with one example per question.

The written exercise places the candidate in the role of a constable completing an urgent written task for a line manager, using four items of information and nothing else. The limit is 120 minutes; the College expects about 10 minutes of reading and 40 of writing. Spelling and grammar are not assessed; a response still open when the timer runs out is lost.

The briefing exercise is also recorded. The candidate reads preparation materials for about ten minutes, then answers 12 questions in three parts of four, with new information before parts two and three. Each question allows one minute to think and three to answer, about 60 minutes in all.

Assessors are police officers, police staff and trained members of the community, and know nothing of the candidate beyond a name. An unsuccessful candidate may resit three months from the start of the assessment window, limited to two attempts in twelve months.

The force interview

The regulations require an in-person interview that meets the national standard set by the College. Neither College document read for this page describes its format, length or questions; the online assessment page says only that a successful candidate's force will contact them about next steps. The force's own recruitment pages are the place to check.

The Competency and Values Framework

Every exercise is marked against the Competency and Values Framework, which the College describes as the behaviours expected of everyone working in policing. The 2024 framework has three values (courage, respect and empathy, public service) and six competencies (we are emotionally aware, we take ownership, we collaborate, we support and inspire, we analyse critically, we are innovative and open-minded), at three cumulative levels: practitioner, supervisor or middle manager, and senior manager or executive. The guide says initial recruitment is assessed at level 1.

The candidate guide predates the 2024 framework and uses the earlier labels: values of integrity, transparency, public service and impartiality, and competencies worded as "deliver, support and inspire" and "collaborative". The interview, for example, is marked on integrity, public service, transparency, take ownership and innovative and open-minded. Neither document maps the old labels to the new, so treat the guide's lists as indicative.

The legal basis

The Police (Amendment) (Recruitment Standards) Regulations 2026 (SI 2026/154) were made on 23 February 2026, laid before Parliament on 24 February and came into force on 17 March 2026. They amend regulation 10 of the Police Regulations 2003, the qualifications for appointment to a police force, by inserting a new paragraph (1)(eb) listing the four stages, and add definitions to regulation 10(3) that tie each stage to the College. The national standard, for instance, is the minimum competencies and values "as set by the College of Policing that candidates must demonstrate to be suitable for appointment to the rank of constable". The explanatory note gives the aim as standard recruitment stages for constable appointments across England and Wales.

This page is educational information drawn from the documents listed above on the date shown; the College revises its guidance between campaigns, so rely on the version your force sends.