Police officer application

The application form is split into two parts.

1 - Eligibility assessment.

2 - Main police officer application form.

Your responses should be completed by you and in your own words, this will allow us to fully assess your

personal motivations  and expectations of the role, your preparation for the application, and your skills,

experiences, and values.

If you do not meet the eligibility criteria you will not be able to access the application.

1. Eligibility criteria assessment

This form comprises of the following sections:

Eligibility screening questions

  • Age
  • Driving licence
  • Residency
  • Right to work
  • Tattoos
  • Previous application
  • Previous police service

Employment monitoring questions

These are requested for the purposes of employment monitoring and

are not visible to recruitment and selection assessors.

Reasonable adjustment support

If you request reasonable adjustments your application will be submitted for

a support review prior to the application form to allow us to make sure that

you have the support required for your selection process.

Posting preferences

We will ask for three location preferences for posting if successful. We will try to accommodate

your location preference where possible. 

2. Police officer application form


The application for police officer is divided into the following sections

About you

We will ask you to provide information to verify residency status, right to work and further

details in relation to eligibility. 

Previous applications and previous service

This section contains questions to establish if you have any

previous applications and understand the application stage reached.

Questions on previous service as a police officer, special constable and/or military service

will also be asked.

Tattoos 

We will ask you to provide a description of any tattoos you have including what they are and

where they are. You will be asked to upload images of the tattoos.

Business interests

We will ask you to provide details of any business interests you are involved with.

Main application questions

You will be asked to provide a personal statement to support your police officer application.

In your personal statement you should include:

  • Why you would like to join Police Scotland as a Police Officer.
  • The skills and attributes you have which you believe make you suitable for the role/will facilitate you in the role.
  • The development journey you have been on that has led you to submit an application to become a Police Officer. This could include any previous experience within the workplace (paid or voluntary), in education, or your experiences in any other contexts which you feel support your application.

You should aim to provide between 800 words. We recommend providing as much information as you can.

This will help the recruitment specialists to fully assess your application.

You will then be asked the following questions:

Police Scotland values are Fairness, Integrity, Respect and Human Rights. What are your personal values and how do you practice these values in your own life?

 You are expected to provide a maximum of 400 words for this answer.      

Please provide any other information you wish to add in reference to your application

You are expected to provide a maximum of 200 words for this answer.  

If you have made a previous application, you will be asked the following question.

As you have made a previous application to us, please explain what you have done to prepare for this new application. Please include details of how you have used the feedback provided.

You are expected to provide a maximum of 200 words for this answer.

Employment

You will be asked for details of current and previous employment over the last 5 years,

this will include dates employed and contact details for reference purposes. 

Character references will be requested if you have no employment history. 

Qualifications

You will be asked to provide details of any qualifications you have in this section.

Declaration

You will be asked to complete a declaration in relation to the information

you have provided.