From Occupation to Profession: An examination of contemporary police probationer training in England and Wales.

Abstract

In March 2020, policing in England and Wales became a graduate entry profession. Due to the newness of this venture, this research aimed to explore the impact of professionalisation through education on both an individual and organisational level from those both directly and indirectly involved in one of the three new degree routes, the Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship (PCDA). In order to capture the developments in real time, semi-structured interviews were conducted with different sectors involved in this change. Dominant themes emerged pertaining to the benefits of the introduction of the degree, the challenges that accompany change and the complex cultural landscape that had developed in consequence.
In terms of the benefits, participants from the PCDA delivery team and older aged student officers readily evidenced where the degree was promoting both the use of specialist knowledge and evidence-based policing in operational practice. Additionally, there was a recognition that the degree now gives the police parity with allied professions. In stark contrast, the need for the degree was rejected by the majority of operational officers. Interestingly, the views from the younger aged student officers towards the degree were aligned with those of the operational teams. However, it is argued the rejection from operational teams is attributable to the lack information conveyed around the change rather than a more deep-rooted negativity towards academia or the degree. More interestingly, the lack of dialogue appears to have enabled the creation of negative myths around who the service is now attracting and the capabilities of student officers.
The interviews with police trainers and academics servicing into the PCDA programme indicated a very different picture to that evidenced historically. Both were not only optimistic about this new direction in probationer education but also highlighted the positive working relationships which had emerged between them. This not only offers optimism for future collaborations but also acts as a blueprint for other regional forces who are also involved in this process of change.
The findings from this research are simultaneously encouraging, surprising, and concerning. It is promising to see the development of positive collaborations and working relationships between the police and academic staff, and some student officers embracing the need for degree level knowledge into policing. However, the majority of the apprenticeship is spent in operational policing and as such, student officers may find it difficult to resist the dominant culture which prefers experience over education. This can be mitigated by the regional force in this research using the police trainers on the PCDA as ‘knowledge-brokers’, who can encourage the rank and file to accept the change, and as such can revolutionise and modernise policing in England and Wales.

Date of Award	22 May 2025
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Northumbria University
Supervisor	Pauline Ramshaw (Supervisor), Jamie Harding (Supervisor) & Sarah Soppitt (Supervisor)