Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship programme enrols its 1000th student

The MDX-led consortium of four universities delivering ground-breaking police education reaches milestone of 1,000 students

At the start of 2020, 24 police recruits joined Sussex Police and began their degree apprenticeship as part of a new 21^st century police education programme led by a consortium of four universities including Middlesex.

In November 2021 this figure reached over 1,000, and by the end of 2022 that looks set to double.

The four universities with expertise in police education, Middlesex University, Canterbury Christ Church University, the University of Portsmouth and the University of Cumbria, joined together in 2019 to form the Police Education Consortium. It was awarded contracts to deliver the Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship (PCDA) programme with three forces – Surrey and Sussex Police Forces and Hampshire Constabulary. The universities alternated as the providers for each new cohort.

Commenting on the 1000^th student milestone, Professor Darryll Bravenboer, Director of Apprenticeships and Middlesex University, said:

“This is a fantastic achievement and demonstrates the close and highly effective partnership between the Consortium and our police force employers.

“Our innovative police education programmes sought to ensure that officers of the future develop the professional skills and knowledge for required for modern day policing. I believe the high number of student officers entering and successfully progressing, even in the challenging context of the pandemic, is testament to the success of this partnership.”

As well as attracting a high number of recruits, the programme has also seen excellent National Investigators Exam (NIE) exam results recently.

"This is a fantastic achievement and demonstrates the close and highly effective partnership between the Consortium and our police force employers." Professor Darryll Bravenboer, Director of Apprenticeships and Middlesex University

The Consortium recently put forward student police officers from Hampshire Constabulary and Sussex Police to sit the NIE exam. The Consortium’s Hampshire Constabulary cohort had a 78% success rate, significantly exceeding previous Hampshire pass rates of 50%. Among this cohort were three officers who received exceptional scores of over 87%. The Sussex police officers on the Detective Degree Holder Entry programme achieved a success rate of 65%: again an exceptional result.

Steve Woliter, Programme Lead programme lead on the Detective Degree Holder Entry Programme (DHEP) at the University of Portsmouth and an ex-Detective Superintendent said:

"The NIE is an exam set by the College of Policing which tests knowledge, understanding and application of relevant law and procedure to perform effectively as a trainee investigator. In the Consortium, the NIE exam is sat by all student police officers on the detective constable pathway during their DHEP.

"The NIE is an incredibly tough exam. Our students take this around Week 36 in addition to undertaking a full academic programme of study and balancing operational demands at the same time, so these results are fantastic. These Detective DHEP students have worked so hard and have achieved great results, they thoroughly deserve their success."

To find out more about degree apprenticeships at MDX, click here