5. Application and recruitment process

The first step in the application process is to complete and submit the application form which covers our minimum academic and personal eligibility criteria.

Your application will then go through an initial sift to check you meet the eligibility criteria so please make sure your application is completed in full.

You can read through the entry routes for becoming a police constable here

Our current vacancies are published here

Successful candidates will be invited to complete the Police Online Assessment. This process includes a series of exercises that test the key competencies and values that are important for the role of police officer.

National sift candidate guidance | College of Policing

The online initial sift process consists of two-parts:

Part 1: Situational Judgement Test (SJT)

This test measures your ability to choose the appropriate action in situations similar to those you are likely to face as a police officer. This test will measure your judgement and ability to make effective decisions against the Competency and Values Framework for Policing.

Part 2: Behavioural Style Questionnaire (BSQ)

The BSQ measures your typical behaviour and preferences at work. The purpose of the questionnaire is to assess whether you have the right behaviours and attitudes to be effective in the role. You will be presented with 80 statements and asked to decide the extent to which you agree or disagree with each statement.

Online assessments candidate guide | College of Policing

Successful candidates from the initial sift stage will then be invited to complete the Police Online Assessment Centre. This process includes a series of exercises that test the key competencies and values that are important for the role of police officer.

Part 1: Competency-based interview - You will be asked a series of questions about how you have dealt with specific situations in the past. This is your opportunity to provide some examples of the key competencies and values that are important for police officers. You can use examples from both your work and your personal life. If you have completed stage 1, you will be required to take stage 2 immediately upon completion.

Part 2: Written exercise - In this exercise, you will assume the role of a police officer and will have to complete an urgent written task for your line manager. You will receive four items of information to help you with this task.

Part 3: Briefing exercise In this exercise, you will assume the role of a police officer and will have responsibility for dealing with some issues presented to you. You will be tasked with providing a response to a number of questions in relation to this issue. You will be provided with preparation materials to consider your answer.

Competency and values framework (CVF) | College of Policing

A final interview will be conducted online, this will be a competencies and values based and you will be sent guidance before to help with your preparation. This will be your opportunity to further demonstrate your suitability to join the force as a police officer.

Medical Screening

You will be asked to complete a medical questionnaire which must be signed by your GP and returned confidentially to our Occupational Health Unit.

All medical questionnaires will be assessed by our Occupational Health Nurse Advisors who may require further information from your medical practitioner. Candidates who are declared as "fit to proceed" will then be examined by a medical practitioner on behalf of Wiltshire Police.

We will check: BMI (which must be 30 or below), eyesight including colour vision, lung function and hearing.

Guidance on police eyesight standards can be found here.

Fitness Test

We test on endurance fitness, and you are required to pass the fitness test before we can continue with your application. This a mandatory requirement, whichever police officer role you are applying for. 

The fitness test is a multi-stage shuttle run (MSSR) and individuals need to achieve level 5.4 (which is the aerobic requirement of officer safety training).

Vetting checks

We will carry out internal and external vetting checks on you and your spouse/partner, members of your family including step-siblings, and half-siblings. We will also check your partner's children if they are over ten years old and any other adults who reside at your address.

Financial checks will also be carried out on all candidates. Those with outstanding County Court Judgements (CCJs), Individual Voluntary Agreements (IVAs) or who have been registered bankrupt will be rejected. If you have discharged bankruptcy debts, you will need verification from the court of this and three years must have lapsed since the date of discharge.

Biometric testing/substance misuse

Samples of your fingerprints and DNA will be taken to carry out final vetting checks against our database. You will have a hair sample taken which will be subject to a substance misuse test. When attending your biometrics and substance misuse appointment you will be asked to provide details of all medications you are currently taking (prescription and non-prescription). Some medications will return a positive result that may require further investigation if not declared and so we advise to declare all in advance.

Wiltshire Police will seek references from your current employer if you have been employed by them for more than five years. If you have been employed for less than five years with your current employer, references will also be sought from previous employers. We will notify you before we approach your employment referees for your consent.

Before being appointed into position we will take up references from previous employers covering the last 3 years of employment. Where you are applying direct from college, you will need to provide us with the name of your tutor/educational establishment in order for us to approach them to take up references covering a period of 3 years. If you have been at college for a period of less than 3 years, the name of your tutor / educational establishment prior will also need to be provided.

You can complete the exercises on any internet-enabled device with a camera (laptop, tablet or phone), but to ensure full compatibility with the online platform, the following should be set up:

• Your operating system should be Windows 7 (or higher) or Mac OS 10.11 (or higher).
• Your browser should be the latest version of Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome or Safari.
• You should have the latest version of Adobe Flash installed, and you require a webcam and microphone to record responses.

If you have any condition that might cause you to be disadvantaged during the online assessment process, temporary or otherwise (for example pregnancy, injury, disability or including dyslexia), you may be entitled to reasonable adjustments.

Any reasonable adjustments provided for the online assessment process will be based on the supporting information provided to us in a relevant report, produced by an appropriately qualified professional. Reasonable adjustments may include additional time in the exercises or other adjustments as recommended by a specialist.

If you believe you may have a condition that could disadvantage you, please indicate this on completion of your registration for the National Sift.

For more information, please consult the College of Policing policy on reasonable adjustments for candidates attending the online assessment process.