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.
You should aim to provide between 400-500 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:
You are expected to provide a maximum of 200 words for each answer.
- At the heart of Police Scotland is the organisation’s code of ethics and values of
integrity, fairness, respect, and a commitment to upholding human rights.
What values are important to you and how do you practice these values in your own life?
2. Please describe your own development journey and how this has helped shape you. This could
include educational achievements at school, college, university or other vocational training and work
experience.
3. A police officer must be in good physical and mental health.
Please describe what you do to maintain a good level of general fitness and health.
4. What preparation have you undertaken before making this application to ensure
that you know what to expect and to ensure that you are prepared for the role of a police officer.
5. Our mission is to uphold the law and keep the people, places, and communities of Scotland
safe from harm. Please describe what you would bring to Police Scotland, to support our mission.
6. Please provide any other information you wish to add in support of your application.
If you have made a previous application, you will be asked the following question.
- Please explain what you have done to prepare for this new application.
Include details of how you have used the feedback previously provided.
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.