Our police have a lot of levy funding to spend. Across the whole workforce, police officer numbers are going up, making the police one of the biggest employers in England and Wales.
Statistics show that there were 147,746 full-time equivalent (FTE) officers in 43 police forces as at the end of March 2024 - that's a 0.2% rise on March 31, 2023.
Under the apprenticeship levy rules, all large employers with a wage bill of more than £3 million must pay the levy and use the funds for apprenticeship training. As a large employer, it's estimated that the police pay millions of pounds into the levy every year - which is a great deal of money to spend on training.
Since the levy was first introduced back in April 2017, the police have really embraced it. Forces see it as a valuable training investment opportunity - with some employing specialist levy staff to manage the process. They use apprenticeships to attract trainees, grow their team and train a new generation of officers.
And police forces are preparing for further change, with the arrival of the updated Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship (PCDA) from April 2025.
The new PCDA
The PCDA is a three-year programme delivered by police forces alongside higher education providers. It is one of four entry routes into policing and provides the student with a degree in policing practice on completion.
It allows new recruits to gain real-life work experience from day one in the job, underpinned by classroom based theory from their university studies.
The PCDA's new standards have been agreed with the Institute for Technical Education (IfATE) and will focus even more on on-the-job training and workplace skills. The programme has been redesigned to reflect forces' operational needs and challenges while maintaining the highest policing standards.
Warmly welcomed by the College of Policing, the revised, work-focused PCDA will more closely resemble the nursing degree apprenticeship. The College says these changes will give forces increased flexibility - enabling them to 'recruit more diverse candidates and future leaders - particularly those individuals who may have been discouraged from applying because they felt the apprenticeship was too academic, and not for them.'
This amended programme will also benefit from a higher rate of levy funding. In November last year, Bridget Phillipson, Secretary of State for Education, approved a rise of £3,000 for each PCDA student officer in England, taking the funding band from £24,000 to £27,000.
The PCDA changes form part of a broader plan to make work-focused, practical training a key aspect of all entry routes for police constables. Including the:
Police apprenticeships in non-policing roles
Not everyone who works for the police is a police officer. Police forces are large, multi-disciplined teams made up of both uniformed and non-uniformed staff, so apprenticeships are a good way to attract recruits in a wide variety of roles.
Many forces offer entry-level apprenticeships in business admin, operational support, customer service and IT to draw applicants from a wide range of backgrounds. This gives people the opportunity to learn new skills, progress their career, and make a difference in their local community.
To find out how your police force can spend its apprenticeship levy wisely, download our free guide. We outline the seven steps you should follow to make the most of your apprenticeship funding.