Who are they? The police are 43 separate forces across England and Wales employing more than 130,000 officers. Scotland and Northern Ireland have a further nine forces.



What do the police employ graduates for? Top achievers are encouraged to apply for the High Potential Development scheme. There are also civilian positions in areas such as marketing, HR, forensic science, legal services, IT and finance.



Where are the graduate jobs? Nationwide.



What will graduates earn? Probationary constables were paid £22,100 upon completion of their initial training in 2004.



What’s the competition like? Nationally there are likely to be up to 10,000 vacancies for new police officers in 2005.



How have the police done in the Top 100?

2000 42

2001 48

2002 35

2003 30

2004 36

2005 20

2006 27

TALK about a high-profile organisation. Whether it’s a passing patrol car, a press conference appealing for witnesses, or the latest episode of The Bill on ITV1, not a day goes by when you won’t see or hear something about the police.

The challenges for today’s police forces are formidable. Counter-terrorism, the war on drugs, gun crime, anti-social behaviour orders, road accidents, burglaries and domestic violence are just some of the issues that forces across the UK deal with on a regular basis.

It’s no surprise then that the police are one of the country’s largest employers and are certainly among the biggest recruiters featured in this year’s edition of The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers.

The route into the service is the same for graduates as non-graduates: everyone begins as a probationary constable. This two-year programme includes up to 18 weeks of intensive training on core police skills, extensive patrol experience, and further on-the-job development. After completing this probationary period, new recruits can sit the qualifying exam for promotion to the rank of sergeant. Graduates considering a career with the police are strongly encouraged to apply for the High Potential Development (HPD) scheme. The scheme is designed to support future leaders of the police service and to help top achievers to reach the most senior positions.

The HPD scheme is not a traditional fast-track program-me, as the emphasis is on how far an individual can progress rather on than how quickly. The scheme provides highly personal and structured career development to help officers find appropriate postings and rise through the ranks. It also includes a wide range of training modules and a higher education opportunity, such as studying for an MSc in policing and leadership.

Entry to the HPD scheme is extremely competitive — less than 1 per cent of new police officers recruited since the programme was launched in April 2002 have been accepted on to the scheme.



Martin Birchall is editor of The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers

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