Summary of the learning programmes
Police Community Support Officer (PCSO) learning programme
PCSO initial learning follows the first year of the Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship (PCDA), adapted to focus on community policing.
The programme:
- is set at academic level 4
- takes 12 months to complete
- can be delivered as an apprenticeship or standalone qualification
- culminates in a Level 4 HE Certificate or Diploma in Community Policing Practice
- can be mapped across to the PCDA should a PCSO who has completed the programme transition into a PC role
Special constable learning programme (SCLP)
Based on the first year of Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship (PCDA), this programme focuses on the role in which a force intends to deploy special constables.
This could be in any of the five core areas of policing practice:
- response
- communities
- roads
- intelligence
- investigation
The programme is:
- set at academic level 4, although it is not an accredited programme
- phased in line with accompanied patrol, directed patrol and qualified special constable status
- can be mapped across to the PCDA when you complete the programme to directed patrol status transition into a PC role