Overall how has the public services course helped you become a Special Constable?

Derbyshire + Nottinghamshire Police Air Support Unit

In general the course has helped me to push and develop myself into becoming a Special Constable. I have learnt a lot about myself in the two years. If anyone would have told me that I would be a Police Officer in Derbyshire when I came out of education I would have laughed at them and told them to stop talking rubbish!

I would recommend this course to other people but I also think alongside the course you need to know yourself and know what you want out of life and how to get to your chosen career.

Are you looking forward to getting out on the streets?

Derbyshire Constabulary Vehichles

I am slightly nervous but I am looking forward to getting stuck in and learn more whilst I am out on duty.

Hopefully I will be working with experienced offiicers and learning more about the job; being a visible presence and carrying out different intitiatives and targets as part of a team at Derbyshire Constabulary.

How has the Public Services Course help you with your training?

Chesterfield College & Derbyshire Police Authority 'Have Your Say Event'

Chesterfield College & Derbyshire Constabulary Smart Water Event

Police Public Order Training/Climate Camp



Chesterfield College & Derbyshire Emergency Service RTC Demo

The Uniformed Public Services Course at Chesterfield College has helped me with the searching criteria and methodology and has helped me with my knowledge of the legal system and laws. Also the fitness side of the course and the RTC demonstration helped me in regards to incident response and road traffic laws.

What subjects have been covered in training?

The subjects that we have covered were theft, robbery, burglary, Anti-Social Behaviour, Civil laws, Assualts, PACE and road traffic laws. We also completed realistic role plays which incorporated all of these elements in them.

We also completed Officer Safety Training, First Aid, Radio Procedure, Searching and a course on the force IT systems.

What Sort of Jobs/Careers do other people on your course do?

On my intake there was a couple of ex military, people who work in Derby University as administrators, people who work in shops, teachers and other people who are doing the Uniformed Public Services Course at different colleges.

How did you feel about passing the application stage?

I felt like I had made my first step into achieving my future career as a Police Constable. I was happy but I know I still had to put much more work into achieving my goals.

How long did it take from applying to training school?

It took around 5 months from the day I sent off my application forms to the day I started in Training School.

What else did you have to do other than the application form?

The other stages of the recruitment process were;

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  A fitness test, which required level 5.4 minimum on the bleep test and 30kg push and pull test. Candidates were allowed 3 attempts at any one they failed. I found this easy because of all the sports and fitness I do in my spare time and at College.

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  The next stage was the Competency Based Questions and a short writing test. These were slightly harder because it was 50 questions and they had only given us 2 practice questions to do on the application form.

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  I then had to answer 5 questions in an interview in relation to what experiences I have in Teamwork, Leadership, Conflict Resolution and Equality and Diversity. I was given a time limit of 5 minutes to answer each question.

After all of these stages i had to attend another day where they tested my fitness, eyesight and hearing. I was then passed as fit for duty!

What did the Application Form include?

CRB checks on you and close faimly, a few practice questions for the interview and a competency based test. I was also asked why I wanted to join the Special Constabulary and how I found out about it.

How did you find out information on the Special Constabulary?

Advice and Guidance Evening @ Chesterfield College

I went to an Advice and Guidance Evening run by the Special Constabulary at Chesterfield College which explained more about the initial training course and the different stages of the application process. This was very informative and gave me the chance to speak to current serving Special Constables.

Why I Joined the Special Constabulary

The main reasons for wanting to become a Special Constable was to gain experience and knowledge which would help alongside my university course which I hope to start in September. I hope to join the regular constabulary when they start to recruit again. Then, hopefully, I will be able to look forward to achieving my career aim of becoming a police dog handler.