Metropolitan Police (PC Degree Apprenticeship)

Policing · researched 2026-09-30. Processes change every year, so confirm on the employer's own page.

Programmes and entry

Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship (PCDA) (Level 6) · BSc (Hons) Professional Policing Practice (Middlesex University), fully funded · London (17 weeks at Hendon, then borough street duties)

Working towards or holding 2 A-levels or a Level 3 (or equivalent training/experience) plus English Level 2 (GCSE C / 4-9). Age 18+ (apply at 17, upper limit typically 57). Pass bleep test (15 m shuttle, test lasts 3 min 35 s over 525 m), medical, eyesight, vetting, tattoo policy, 3 years continuous UK residency. Starting pay 43,689 incl. allowances (careersmetpolice page); the met.police.uk page shows 42,210. source

rolling (apply early) · Up to about six months end to end. Registration and security check about 7 days; national sift about 2 weeks; online assessment within about 3 weeks of step 1 and results within 3 weeks; face-to-face, medical and fitness results 4-8 weeks; vetting about 2 months. source

Process, stage by stage

1. Online registration and application

Registration and application form checking eligibility; basic security check (about 7 days).

Declare tattoos, business interests, and residency accurately.

Official source source

2. National sift (Cubiks (per College of Policing support contact))

SJT of 15 scenarios with four actions each to rate for effectiveness (about 30 minutes, untimed) and an 80-statement Behavioural Styles Questionnaire (about 20 minutes, untimed), auto-scored and combined. · about 50 min

Rate each action independently and rate all four.
Answer the BSQ about your real work behaviour.

Official source source

3. Online assessment (College of Policing / Outmatch)

Three exercises on Outmatch within about a 3-week window: competency-based interview (5 questions, 60 s prep, 5 min answers, about 40 min); written exercise (urgent task for your line manager from 4 information items, about 40 min, limit 120 min, spelling not assessed); briefing exercise (12 spoken questions in three parts, 60 s prep and 3 min answer each, about 60 min). Prepared notes or scripts can cause automatic failure. · about 140 min

Assessed at CVF Level 1; an automatic fail policy exists for notes or scripts.

Use STAR and one detailed example per question; use only information provided in the written and briefing exercises.

Official source source

4. Face-to-face Met assessment

Values-focused interview at the Met recruitment centre in south London, then medical and job-related fitness test (bleep).

Practise the bleep test; you get three attempts.

Official source source

5. Vetting and offer

Pre-employment checks (average about two months), then formal offer.

Official source source

Online assessment: Cubiks (national sift) and Outmatch (online assessment) for the College of Policing

Situational Judgement Test: Rate effectiveness of four actions for each scenario · 15 items · 30 min
Behavioural Styles Questionnaire: Agree/disagree with statements · 80 items · 20 min
Competency-based interview (recorded): 5 questions, 60 s prep, 5 min answer · 5 items · 40 min
Written exercise: Urgent written task as a PC using 4 info items · 40 min · 2 hour cap
Briefing exercise: 12 recorded questions in 3 parts, 60 s prep, 3 min answer · 12 items · 60 min

Policing SJT (rate each of four actions) against CVF values of integrity, transparency, public service and impartiality; written and briefing tasks use fictional community scenarios with new information dropped in part 2 and 3. Write original look-alikes with neighbourhood issues and information drip-fed.

Official source source

Video interview

Competency-based interview recorded on Outmatch: five questions with on-screen prompts and a pre-recorded interviewer; 60 s prep and up to 5 min to answer; no scripts.

Official source source

Assessment centre

Face-to-face Met assessment: values-focused interview at the South London recruitment centre followed by medical and fitness test.

Official source source

Final interview

Values-focused interview at the recruitment centre. Question content not published.

Official source source

Values they assess against

Integrity · Courage · Accountability · Respect · Empathy

Questions candidates report

Online assessment: Competency-based interview: five questions about how you dealt with specific situations, using work or personal life examples. Official source source
Online assessment: Written task: as a PC, write an urgent letter/briefing to your supervisor using the supplied material (candidate report). Several candidate reports source
Online assessment: Briefing exercise: given a scenario, say what you would do, then more information is added to see if your answer changes (candidate report). Several candidate reports source

Advice for this firm

Do not bring notes or scripts to the online assessment; it can trigger automatic failure.
Prepare one specific example for each CVF value (integrity, public service, transparency, ownership, innovative and open-minded).
In the written exercise only use supplied information and do not invent facts.
Start bleep-test training now (Met provides a six-week programme); you must pass it.
Know the Met's five values and the trust and confidence agenda; be honest about mistakes (Accountability).

Not verified

Candidate-reported questions for the Met's face-to-face values interview were not found.
Official assessment timings come from the College of Policing guide v3.2 (Sept 2024): SJT is shown as 30 minutes there but about 45 minutes in another version.
Pay differs between Met pages (43,689 vs 42,210).
Student Room PCDA threads unreadable, so candidate reports are summaries and from other forces.
Sift provider inferred from the support contact in the College guide.

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