Throughout the programme, learners are assessed via various methods including:
- Presentations
- Assignments
- Practical scenarios
- Exams
Learners will also create an Operational Competence Portfolio of evidence.
Key details
- Start date(s)
- 2024
- Study Mode
- Full-time (2 years)
- Location
- Main Campus and External Delivery Partner Location
- School
- Criminology, Investigation and Policing
This work-based programme is designed to provide the essential knowledge, understanding and skills required to operate effectively as a modern Police Officer.
About this course
This programme is suitable for Degree or Master's holders and career changers (who already hold any degree) who wish to pursue a career as a Police Officer.
Sections of this programme will take place at Tally Ho! the police training facility near Birmingham.
It will allow learners to combine workplace learning opportunities with theoretical knowledge gained through a number of formal classes which are relevant to modern-day policing.
This programme provides a route into policing that enables you to receive practical on-the-job learning alongside academic theory and knowledge while earning a competitive salary. Starting salaries are reviewed annually. You will be a police officer from your first day on the job but will be required to successfully complete the course to be confirmed in the role.
The Graduate Diploma covers areas that are critical to effective policing in the 21st century, such as evidence-based policing, supporting vulnerable people, dealing with cybercrime and crime prevention.
- Successful learners will gain a Graduate Diploma in Professional Policing Practice.
- Your time will be spent across a combination of training sites dependent upon force employment. This programme will also be supported by online delivery by Leeds Trinity University
About West Midlands Police
West Midlands Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. The force covers the cities of Birmingham, Coventry, Wolverhampton, and also the Black Country.
Programme duration and delivery
It will take two years to complete the programme.
You will complete the initial police education training period. After this time, you will then move to work within your local policing area. It is during this period that you will assessed on your ability to work independently, policing our communities, but with the support of your colleagues.
You will spend further periods of training to build your knowledge and skills and will then return to your district to apply this learning and continue to gain operational experience.
Note: This course will only run if minimum student numbers are met.
Course modules
You will study a variety of modules across your programme of study. The module details given below are subject to change and are the latest example of the curriculum available on this course of study.
Year 1
During the first year, the learner will study three core modules.
The Police Service and the Role of the Constable - Core
The Investigation Process - Core
Supporting Witnesses, Victims and the Vulnerable - Core
Year 2
During the second year, the learner will study three core modules.
Criminology and Crime Prevention - Core
Operational Policing - Core
Leading the Service: Ethics, Integrity and Professionalism - Core
Learning and teaching
Programme delivery
Your time on campus, learning through in-person teaching, is at the heart of your academic experience and the way we deliver our programmes. This is supported and further enhanced by additional engagement activities and opportunities provided online and through digital teaching materials. This blended approach seeks to ensure a positive learning and teaching student experience.
Your programme of study has been carefully designed around a three-phase model of delivery:
- Preparation: You will be given clear tasks to support you in preparing for live teaching. This could include watching a short-pre-recorded lecture, reading a paper or text chapter or preparing other material for use in class.
- Live: All your live teaching will be designed around active learning, providing you with valuable opportunities to build on preparation tasks, interact with staff and peers, and surface any misunderstandings.
- Post: Follow-up activities will include opportunities for you to check understanding, for staff to receive feedback from you and your peers to inform subsequent sessions, and for you to apply learning to new situations or context.
Preparation, Live and Post teaching and learning and the digital materials used will vary by course, but will be designed to help you structure your learning, take a full and active part in your course, and apply and test your developing knowledge and skills.
Learning and teaching
At Leeds Trinity we aim to provide an excellent student experience and provide you with the tools and support to help you achieve your academic, personal and professional potential.
Our Learning, Teaching and Assessment Strategy delivers excellence by providing the framework for:
- high quality teaching
- an engaging and inclusive approach to learning, assessment and achievement
- a clear structure through which you progress in your academic studies, your personal development and towards professional-level employment or further study.
We have a strong reputation for developing student employability, supporting your development towards graduate employment, with relevant skills embedded throughout your programme of study.
We endeavour to develop curiosity, confidence, courage, ambition and aspiration in all students through the key themes in our Learning and Teaching Strategy:
- Student Involvement and Engagement
- Inclusion
- Integrated Programme and Assessment Experience
- Digital Literacy and Skills
- Employability and Enterprise
To help you achieve your potential we emphasise learning as a collaborative process, with a range of student-led and real-world activities. This approach ensures that you fully engage in shaping your own learning, developing your critical thinking and reflective skills so that you can identify your own strengths and weaknesses, and use the extensive learning support system we offer to shape your own development.
We believe the secret to great learning and teaching is simple: it is about creating an inclusive learning experience that allows all students to thrive through:
- Personalised support
- Expert lecturers
- Strong connections with employers
- An international outlook
- Understanding how to use tools and technology to support learning and development
Entry requirements
Leeds Trinity University is committed to recruiting students with talent and potential and who we feel will benefit greatly from their academic and non-academic experiences here. We treat every application on its own merits.
The following information is designed to give you a general overview of the qualifications we accept. If you are taking qualifications that are not included below, please contact our Apprenticeship Student Admin team who will be happy to advise you.
Applicants must:
Have a degree in any subject (or overseas equivalent) or a master’s degree. If you are currently awaiting your degree results you can apply based on your predicted grades. You must provide a letter from your university confirming that you are expected to achieve a Degree.
- Must have no criminal convictions (minor offenses will be considered on an individual basis).
- Meet specified force attendance standard (this relates to absence in your previous role/s if relevant).
- Be able to pass the job-related fitness test.
- Comply with the force tattoo policy.
- Pass the police vetting checks.
Support
We offer extensive support to all of our students - whatever your background or academic experience.
Fees and finance
Funding
The force will cover the entirety of the cost of this programme, there is no cost to the learner.
How to apply
Application cycles for this programme are managed by the police force that we work with. If you are interested in applying for this programme, please visit their website directly.
About Leeds Trinity University
Our professional Work-Based Learning programmes combine part-time study with Leeds Trinity University with workplace training. We've been providing outstanding provision in higher education for over 50 years and have significant experience of delivering work-based learning programmes. We're proud to offer a personal and inclusive university experience that gives everyone the support they need to realise their potential. Our teaching staff have extensive and relevant professional experience.