joining the Met Police

The MPS has changed the way that it recruits police constables. The majority of police officer recruits will now come from serving MPS special constables and PCSOs. Currently the only route for external applicants to become a police officer is by joining the MPS as a Special Constable. MPS special constables are able to apply for the role of police officer when internal vacancies arise if they have attained Independent Patrol Status (IPS) and have a current satisfactory appraisal. Independent Patrol Status is the term given when a special constable has reached a satisfactory standard of competence to enable them to patrol independently.

Special constables will be required to complete an internal application form (when internal vacancies arise) and undertake the Police National Recruitment Standard (NRS) assessment process, which is often called Day 1 (assessment centre) and Day 2 (medical and fitness). All special constable candidates, who achieve the MPS standard at Day 1 NRS, will undertake training which recognises their previous learning and operational experience before being appointed as a police constable. In future when external recruitment reopens, it is likely to be for a very limited number of vacancies.

Read more: http://www.metpolicecareers.co.uk/faq.html