The recruitment process can be quite lengthy as your application will go through several stages, the following gives you a breakdown of each of these stages and each applicant may progress at different stages if we need to wait for additional information i.e. medical.

Steps of Selection and Assessment

• Stage 1 > Formal Application and Eligibility
• Stage 2 > Competency Based Questionnaire
• Stage 3 > SEARCH Assessment Centre
• Stage 4 > Structured Interview
• Stage 5 > Medical & Physical Fitness Test
• Stage 6 > Post interview ' pre-employment checks' - Vetting and Biometric vetting (DNA/Fingerprints)
  
• Stage 7 > Formal offer
• Stage 8 > Commence Training

You can apply to one police force at a time. If you have had a previous application to Merseyside Police or any other police force rejected, then you need to wait 6 months before you can apply again.

If you have failed the National Assessment Centre (SEARCH) then you need to wait 6 months before you are eligible to re-apply.

If you have passed the National Assessment Centre (SEARCH) within the last 12 months you may be able to transfer your score to Merseyside SEARCH assessment scores are valid for 12 months from the date of your assessment centre. For further details please contact HR recruitment team via email [email protected]

Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship (PCDA)

• To be eligible to apply you must have achieved a Level 2 qualification in Maths and English (GCSE or equivalent)

Degree Holder Entry Programme (DHEP)

• To be eligible to apply you need to hold a degree-level qualification in any subject area (not in Professional Policing Practice).

Applications can be accepted at the age of 18. There is no upper age limit for applying to the police service, but keep in mind that the normal retirement age is 60 years and that new constable recruits are required to undertake a two year probationary period.

No, Merseyside Police do not currently require applicants to have a drivers licence to be eligible to apply.

You must be a British citizen, an EC/EEA national or a comonwealth citizen or foreign national with no restrictions on your stay in the United Kingdom. Candidates who have lived abroad may be required to have resided in the UK for three years due to difficulties often faced with obtaining adequate vetting checks from abroad. All applicants have to be vetted to the same standard before appointment.

Whether you're eligible depends on the nature and circumstances of the offence. It is not possible to set out a full list of convictions that will preclude a person from becoming a Police Constable. There may also be circumstances where an individual whose suspected involvement in crime, or criminal associations make an offer of employment inappropriate.

Police Officers are in the evidential chain, which means any convictions and cautions must be disclosed in accordance with CPS Disclosure Manual (chapter 18) when that officer appears at court.

Each case is considered on its own merits taking into account all available information. The decsion is made considering the Code of Ethics and Professional Behaviour and using the Police National Decision Model (NDM). However, some issues relating to the candidate which definitely lead to rejection are:

• Offences which resulted in a prison sentence
• Registered sex offender (or other conviction requiring registration)
• Existing County Court Judgements
• Bankruptcy which is not discharged

Applicants will have their financial status checked. These checks are carried out because police officers have access to privileged information, which may make them vulnerable to corruption. Applicants with outstanding County Court Judgements, who may have been registered bankrupt with outstanding debts will be rejected. If you have any discharged bankruptcy debts then you will need to provide a Certificate of Satisfaction with your application.

Not neccessarily. If you have tattoos please declare these on your application form. We will ask you to send us photographs of each tattoo to show us the location and nature of it/them. We will then assess the tattoo(s) against our standards.

Officers must have a general appearance which is in keeping with the Code of Conduct for Police Officers and which ensures the dignity of the Office of Constable.

Any visible tattoos must be capable of being full covered at all times via long sleeved shirts, plasters or camouflage makeup, each will be considered on an individual basis upon the image that is sent.

Body Art must not be discriminatory in any way, lewd, crude, violent in nature or show any allegiance to any unacceptable organisations.

In the role of Police Officer you will face challenging situations where a good level of physical fitness is necessary, therefore it's a requirement for all Police Officers to obtain and maintain good levels of fitness at all times.

To ensure you are fit enough to fulfil the role, you will undertake a fitness test. The test contains two parts:

• Dynamic Strength Test (Push-pull) and
• Endurance Fitness Test (Bleep - test).

Performance on both of these tests will provide a good indicatior of a candidate's capability to perform various police tasks

Yes as long as your vision can be suitably corrected. As part of the recruitment process you will need to go to the optician for an eye test and bring the results of your medical assessment for review. Further details of eye sight requirements can be found here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/circular-0032017-amendment-to-eyesight-standards-police-recruitment

We welcome applications from people with disabilities, if you have a disability which would still allow you to fulfill the full role of Police Officer.

If you consider yourself to have a disability and require reasonable adjustments, please inform us on your application form of the type of reasonable adjustments you might need to assist you in participating in the recruitment and selection process. We will try to make reasonable adjustments where practicable.

It depends on the nature of the medical condition. We require all applicants to pass our medical assessment to ensure you meet the BMI and health standards required. We follow the Government's guidance on police health officer requirements. You can find out more about these and check the list of specific health conditions here:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-recruitment-standards-medical-standards-for-police-recruitment

No, Merseyside Police welcomes applications from all, but we are proud to use positive action initiatives to help redress the balance from under-representative groups.

The Equality Act 2010 only allows positive action to be used when there is under-representation. Within Merseyside Police the following groups/communities are under-represented

• Females (police officer roles only)
• Ethnic minorities
• Disabled (if you have a disability which would still allow you to fulfil the role)
• Gay/lesbian/bisexual
• Transgender
• Minority religions, e.g Muslim, Hindu, Jewish, Sikh

No, there are many misconceptions about positive action and it can sometimes be viewed negatively by those who do not fully understand it's purpose.

Positive Action does not

• Provide any unfair advantage
• Guarantee a pass at any stage
• Seek to remove competition for jobs
• Give specific answers for job applications/interviews

All candidates apply in exactly the same way and every application and all candidates go through exactly the same recruitment process.

Every candidate who is successful within Merseyside Police has always achieved this on their own merit by demonstrating throughout our rigorous recruitment processes they have the skills and abilities to perform the role to the highest standards.

Candidates are not selected simply because they fall within an under-represented group.

Achieving a representative police service is vital for reasons of legitimacy and public confidence. Positive action seeks to achieve this aim be redressing the balance of disadvantage that is faced by many under represented groups.

Merseyside Police recognises that a diverse workforce brings with it many advantages such as:

• Putting our community first - The communities we serve are increasingly diverse and complex - the police service must continue to adapt to the modern policing environment. A diverse workforce will help us to understand the diverse needs of our communities and be able to adapt accordingly.
• Multi-cultural organisations are better positioned to serve multi-cultural communities, by overcoming language and cultural barriers.
• Increased Productivity - Staff perform better in an organisation that is truly reflective and values diversity and well-being.
• Diversity of staff enables diversity of thought thereby providing more adaptability in terms of problem solving by offering a wider array of possible solutions.

As a Police Officer you may be required to work anywhere within the Merseyside geographical area.