The Other Four CVF Competencies
Level 1 Interview Answers
Four of the six competencies in the College of Policing's competency and values framework are not assessed in the OAC interview: we are emotionally aware, we collaborate, we support and inspire, and we analyse critically. They are assessed in the national sift and the OAC written and briefing exercises, and a force may ask about them in its own interview. This page explains each at level 1 and how to prepare an example if your force asks. Facts checked against College of Policing sources on 1 October 2026.
Independent information, not advice · Sources checked 1 October 2026 · England and Wales unless stated
Not for the OAC interview, which assesses courage, public service, respect and empathy, ownership and innovation. These four are assessed in the national sift and the OAC written and briefing exercises, through scenarios rather than personal examples. Your force's in-person interview may ask about them, so prepare one real level 1 example for each and check with your force.
Why these four competencies are on one page
We have written separate pages for the five areas the College says the OAC competency-based interview assesses: courage, respect and empathy, public service, we take ownership and we are innovative and open-minded.
The other four competencies are assessed nationally only through exercises that do not ask for personal examples: the national sift (where you rate actions or statements) and the OAC written and briefing exercises (where you respond to a scenario using only the information given). The place you are most likely to need a personal example for them is your force's in-person interview, and no College source tells us which areas forces cover there. Rather than four thin pages built on guesswork, we have put what is verified about all four in one place.
The College's national sift guidance and online assessment candidate guide both say initial police recruitment assesses the competencies at level 1 (practitioner). Levels are cumulative, and level 2 is broadly the supervisor and middle manager level.
Try one out loud. Answer a practice question free and get a scored result in about a minute. No account. Answer a question free
Where each of the four is assessed
As listed in the College's candidate guides, read on 1 October 2026:
| Competency | Sift: SJT | Sift: BSQ | OAC: interview | OAC: written | OAC: briefing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| We are emotionally aware | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| We collaborate | Yes* | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| We support and inspire | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
| We analyse critically | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | No |
* The College's national sift page lists this SJT competency under its 2016 name, "we are collaborative". We treat it as the same competency as "we collaborate".
The OAC written exercise is the only OAC exercise for three of these (analyse critically, collaborate, support and inspire), and the briefing exercise is the only OAC exercise for emotional awareness. The College's CVF guidance gives a hint about what assessors of such exercises may focus on: where an exercise assesses "we are emotionally aware", assessors may focus on how you approach relationships, and where it assesses "we analyse critically", on your approach to data and complex information. See the written exercise explained and the briefing exercise explained.
We are emotionally aware
The College describes this competency as making the effort to understand yourself, colleagues and the public, so you can manage your own emotions and understand other people's. It includes managing emotions in stressful situations, seeking the support and care you and others need so you do not just cope but thrive, and being sensitive to cultural and individual differences.
Level 1 behaviours (paraphrased):
- Communicating effectively and compassionately, tailoring how you communicate so you are easily understood.
- Understanding and managing your own emotions so you stay effective under pressure.
- Seeking out support to help you perform effectively.
- Recognising that some situations might affect your ability to deal with stress and pressure.
- Adapting your style by understanding the emotional needs of the people you work with and the public.
- Trying to understand others' concerns even when they cannot express themselves clearly.
Level 2 drift to avoid: monitoring colleagues' wellbeing, making sure support is in place for a team, and helping others learn from their emotional responses are level 2.
Illustrative outline, not a script (invented by PolicePay)
- S: A call-centre worker takes a call from a customer who is distressed and struggling to explain a billing problem.
- T: Resolve the problem while the customer is upset and the queue is long.
- A: Notices her own frustration rising, slows her breathing and her speech, acknowledges the customer's distress, asks short questions one at a time, and reads back what she has understood.
- R: The problem is fixed on the call. She later tells her team leader that back-to-back calls like this were getting to her and asks to take her break straight after them, which helps.
Prompts for your own example: when did you notice your own emotions affecting how you were doing something, and what did you do? When did you help someone who could not explain what was wrong? When did you ask for support so you could keep doing a good job?
This competency mentions seeking support and recognising stress. Choose an example you are comfortable discussing. Health and medical questions are handled through the separate medical and vetting stages; see mental health, neurodiversity and police recruitment.
We collaborate
The College says effective policing depends on working with others: colleagues across the force, other organisations and the public. The description covers getting to know stakeholders, building strong partnerships (sometimes quickly and under pressure), sharing skills and information to avoid working in silos, and making partners feel valued.
Level 1 behaviours (paraphrased):
- Learning about people in other teams, organisations and the community so you can work with them effectively.
- Getting to know others and building rapport to achieve shared goals.
- Working flexibly with people across different levels, teams and backgrounds.
- Working cooperatively to get things done, willingly helping and supporting colleagues.
- Actively engaging with and learning from a diverse group to improve your work.
Level 2 drift to avoid: agreeing partners' roles, managing long-term partnerships and building joined-up solutions across organisations are level 2.
Illustrative outline, not a script (invented by PolicePay)
- S: A warehouse picker's shift keeps clashing with the delivery drivers' team over loading times.
- T: Get her orders loaded on time without the daily arguments.
- A: She spends a break with two drivers to understand their schedule, learns their worst bottleneck, and offers to stage her orders by route; she asks her supervisor's permission first.
- R: Loading becomes quicker on her shift; she learns that she had assumed the drivers were the problem without knowing their constraints.
Prompts for your own example: when did you work with people outside your usual team to sort something out? When did you build a working relationship with someone you initially clashed with? When did you learn something useful from someone with a different background?
Use "I" for your part, as Derbyshire's guide advises. Collaboration answers are where "we" creeps in most, and the assessor still needs to know what you did.
We support and inspire
The College describes this competency as understanding the organisation's vision, applying its values day to day, creating a climate in which people can do their best, and helping others deliver. It says plainly that this behaviour is not restricted to people in formal or senior management positions: everyone contributes by working at their best and helping others.
Level 1 behaviours (paraphrased):
- Taking opportunities to share your positive commitment to policing and its values.
- Understanding how your work contributes to the purpose of policing and your force's priorities.
- Being conscientious, working hard to give the best service and removing obstacles to delivery.
- Taking on challenging tasks to improve the service and support colleagues.
- Supporting the efficient use of resources to create the most value.
Before you join, the first two behaviours are naturally about policing you have not yet done. The transferable version is understanding how your current work fits your organisation's purpose. That is our interpretation; a force interview may also ask directly why you want to join, which is a different kind of question (see why do you want to join the police).
Level 2 drift to avoid: coaching, mentoring and developing others, helping people adapt to organisational change and managing resources in your area are level 2.
Illustrative outline, not a script (invented by PolicePay)
- S: A hospital porter sees that wheelchairs are regularly missing from the main entrance at visiting time.
- T: Make sure patients arriving can get a chair, as part of his own role.
- A: Takes on a sweep of the wards before visiting time on his shifts, returns chairs, and suggests to his supervisor a simple sign asking staff to return them; offers to cover a colleague's sweep when she is short of time.
- R: Fewer patients wait at the entrance on his shifts; he reflects that the problem was about where chairs ended up, not how many there were.
We analyse critically
The College describes this competency as analysing diverse information and the best available evidence to make decisions and understand the root causes of problems in complex situations, accepting that you will not have every answer but always trying to gather facts and robust information.
Level 1 behaviours (paraphrased):
- Thinking critically about issues and challenging your own assumptions, finding information that helps you decide better.
- Absorbing and interpreting information accurately and in good time, separating what is relevant from what is not.
- Solving problems proactively by understanding why they happen, using evidence and experience.
- Applying professional knowledge and decision-making frameworks, as well as your own judgement.
- Recognising gaps and inconsistencies in information and thinking about what they mean.
- Keeping clear, accurate records to support evidence-based decisions.
Level 2 drift to avoid: asking incisive questions to separate opinion from fact for others, acting decisively on incomplete information with contingency plans, and weighing resource options are level 2.
Illustrative outline, not a script (invented by PolicePay)
- S: A shop assistant is told by a customer that the self-checkout keeps overcharging for one product.
- T: Work out whether it is true before refunding or dismissing it.
- A: Checks the customer's receipt against the shelf price, scans the item herself, notices the barcode links to a larger pack size, checks two more items from the same delivery, and writes down what she found before calling the supervisor.
- R: The barcode error is corrected and affected customers refunded; she learns to check the cause rather than assume the customer or the machine is wrong.
In the OAC written exercise this competency is shown through the task itself, using only the four items of information provided. The College tells candidates not to add or invent information. That instruction fits the level 1 behaviour of separating relevant from irrelevant information.
Telling the four apart (and from the values)
One real situation often shows several areas. What matters is that your answer emphasises the one the question asks about. This table is our own guide, not College material.
| If your example is mainly about... | It mainly shows | What to emphasise |
|---|---|---|
| You calmed someone who was upset and found out what they needed | We are emotionally aware (or the value respect and empathy) | Reading and responding to emotions; adapting your approach |
| You worked with another team or organisation to sort out a shared problem | We collaborate | Building rapport across boundaries; shared goals |
| You took on an extra, difficult task because the service needed it, and used resources carefully | We support and inspire | Conscientious work; understanding the purpose; removing obstacles |
| You spotted an inconsistency in information and worked out the real cause before acting | We analyse critically | Checking assumptions; relevance; root causes; accurate records |
| You noticed you were getting stressed under pressure and asked for support so the work stayed accurate | We are emotionally aware | Managing your own emotions; seeking support |
The College's CVF guidance says the behaviours are examples and should not be used as a checklist, and that assessors should be open to different ways of showing a competency that fit its description.
When you may need personal examples: force interviews
Since 17 March 2026, regulation 10 of the Police Regulations 2003 has required constable candidates to pass an in-person interview with the force that meets the national standard. The College does not publish a national list of areas for this interview. What the force documents we read say:
- Derbyshire Constabulary (2022 guide): a panel of usually two asks questions based on the CVF; candidates are told to prepare examples showing they meet each competency and value. Questions may be past-focused, future-focused or exploratory, and the panel may ask follow-up questions.
- Devon and Cornwall Police (2024 guide): candidates are told to prepare examples for each competency and value, with 10 minutes' preparation with the questions on the day.
- Devon and Cornwall Police CVF level 1 sheet (June 2025): says interview questions and/or assessments are based on a minimum of four and a maximum of six questions, of which one to three are on values. It does not say which roles it covers.
So if you are preparing for a force interview, having one honest level 1 example for each of these four competencies, as well as the five OAC interview areas, is a reasonable precaution. Ask your force which areas it uses. More on the stage in the in-person police interview explained.
Common mistakes with these four competencies
- Answering at level 2. Coaching others, managing partnerships or monitoring a team's wellbeing are level 2. Devon and Cornwall list wrong CVF level as a common mistake.
- "We" in collaboration answers. Say what you did within the group.
- Analysis without action. An analyse critically answer needs the decision you reached and what you did with it.
- Emotional awareness as a feeling only. Describe what you noticed and what you did differently because of it.
- Buzzwords. "Synergy", "stakeholder engagement" and "resilience" do not score on their own. Devon and Cornwall's guide says buzzwords do not.
- Inventing information in the written exercise. The College says use only the information provided.
How to practise
- Read the College's page for each of the four competencies in full.
- Find one real level 1 example for each, using the prompts above. Do not invent or borrow examples.
- Structure each with STAR and say it aloud to the timing your force gives you.
- For the written exercise and SJT, practise with scenarios instead: SJT practice and the written exercise explained.
The free STAR answer checker checks the structure of a drafted example (it cannot judge which competency it shows). The free mock interview has an in-person practice mode with example questions and a timer; its CVF value list covers the three values only, not these competencies. A scored result on your own answer (a score out of 10, a pass or refer verdict and your main gap) is free, up to 5 a day; the full critique and a model answer are a paid option described on the mock interview page. Preparation cannot guarantee a result.
What we could not verify
- Which of these four competencies any particular force's in-person interview assesses. We read guidance from two forces only.
- Which roles the Devon and Cornwall CVF level 1 sheet applies to; it does not say.
- How these competencies are marked or weighted in the sift, written exercise or briefing exercise. The College does not publish mark schemes or pass marks.
- Whether the 2016 name "we are collaborative" on the College's sift page reflects anything about the exercise content or is only a wording slip.
PolicePay is independent of the College of Policing, the Home Office and every police force. This page paraphrases the College's CVF pages and candidate guides as read on 1 October 2026. The outlines are invented. The College's pages and your force's instructions take priority.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which CVF competencies are not assessed in the OAC interview?
Four of the six: we are emotionally aware, we collaborate, we support and inspire, and we analyse critically. The College's candidate guide (updated 21 July 2026) lists only courage, public service, respect and empathy, we take ownership, and we are innovative and open-minded for the interview. The other four are assessed in the national sift and in the OAC written and briefing exercises.
Where is 'we analyse critically' assessed in police recruitment?
In the national sift (both the situational judgement test and the behavioural styles questionnaire) and in the OAC written exercise. It is not listed for the OAC interview or briefing exercise. A force may ask about it in its own in-person interview.
What are the level 1 behaviours for 'we analyse critically'?
The College lists six: thinking critically and challenging your assumptions; absorbing and interpreting information accurately and in good time, separating relevant from irrelevant; solving problems by understanding why they happen; using professional knowledge and decision-making frameworks with your own judgement; noticing gaps and inconsistencies in information; and keeping clear, accurate records.
What are the level 1 behaviours for 'we collaborate'?
The College lists five: learning about people in other teams, organisations and the community so you can work with them; getting to know people and building rapport to achieve shared goals; working flexibly across levels, teams and backgrounds; working cooperatively and willingly helping colleagues; and seeking to engage with and learn from a diverse group.
What are the level 1 behaviours for 'we are emotionally aware'?
The College lists six: communicating effectively and compassionately so you are easily understood; understanding and managing your own emotions to stay effective under pressure; seeking support to help you perform; recognising that some situations may affect how you handle stress; adapting your approach to people's emotional needs; and trying to understand others' concerns even when they cannot express them clearly.
What are the level 1 behaviours for 'we support and inspire'?
The College lists five: sharing your commitment to policing and its values; understanding how your work contributes to policing's purpose and your force's priorities; working conscientiously and removing obstacles to good service; taking on challenging tasks to improve the service and support colleagues; and supporting the efficient use of resources.
Do I need personal examples for these four competencies?
Not for the OAC interview, which assesses other areas. You may need them for a force's in-person interview, which each force designs. Derbyshire Constabulary's guide tells candidates to prepare examples for each competency and value, and a Devon and Cornwall Police CVF sheet says its interview questions or assessments draw on the competencies and values. Ask your force.
Is 'we support and inspire' only for managers?
No. The College says this behaviour is not restricted to people in formal or senior management positions. At level 1 it is about your own commitment, conscientious work, taking on challenging tasks and using resources well. Coaching and developing others becomes central at level 2.
What is the difference between 'we collaborate' and 'we support and inspire'?
Collaborate is about working with others, including people outside your own team or organisation, to achieve shared goals. Support and inspire is about understanding the purpose of the work, working conscientiously and helping the service and colleagues perform. A team example can show both; the emphasis should match the question.
Is 'we are emotionally aware' the same as respect and empathy?
No, though they overlap. Respect and empathy is a value about dignity, listening and fairness. We are emotionally aware is a competency about understanding and managing your own emotions and recognising other people's, including seeking support. In the OAC, emotional awareness is assessed in the briefing exercise; respect and empathy in the interview and written exercise.
What was 'we are collaborative'?
It was the name of the collaboration competency in the 2016 CVF. The 2024 name is 'we collaborate'. The College's national sift page still uses the older name in its list of SJT competencies, while other College pages use the 2024 name; we treat them as the same competency.
What CVF level are these competencies assessed at for recruitment?
Level 1 (practitioner). The College's national sift guidance and online assessment candidate guide both say the competencies are assessed at level 1 in initial police recruitment.
Sources and how we checked them
Every factual claim on this page was written from the sources below, read on 1 October 2026. Rules and figures change, so check the source for the date you are reading this. Where we could not confirm something from an official or independent source, the page says so rather than guessing. Spotted something out of date? See our corrections policy.
- College of Policing: CVF, we are emotionally aware (first published 8 May 2024) — description and level 1 and 2 behaviours paraphrased on this page (accessed 1 October 2026)
- College of Policing: CVF, we collaborate (first published 8 May 2024) — description and level 1 and 2 behaviours paraphrased on this page (accessed 1 October 2026)
- College of Policing: CVF, we support and inspire (first published 8 May 2024) — description, not restricted to managers, level 1 and 2 behaviours (accessed 1 October 2026)
- College of Policing: CVF, we analyse critically (first published 8 May 2024) — description and level 1 and 2 behaviours paraphrased on this page (accessed 1 October 2026)
- College of Policing: Competency and values framework for policing 2024 (PDF) — six competencies, three cumulative levels; behaviours are examples, not a checklist (accessed 1 October 2026)
- College of Policing: Online assessment process candidate guide (updated 21 July 2026) — which competencies each OAC exercise assesses; level 1; written and briefing exercise formats (accessed 1 October 2026)
- College of Policing: National sift candidate guidance (updated 1 June 2026) — the six SJT competencies (one listed under its 2016 name); BSQ covers all nine areas; level 1 (accessed 1 October 2026)
- College of Policing: Competency and values framework guidance 2024 (PDF) — what assessors of 'emotionally aware' and 'analyse critically' exercises may focus on; interview question types (accessed 1 October 2026)
- Police Regulations 2003 (SI 2003/527), regulation 10, latest text — the in-person force interview required since 17 March 2026 (accessed 1 October 2026)
- Derbyshire Constabulary: In-force interview preparation guide (2022, PDF) — prepare examples for each competency and value; past, future and exploratory questions (accessed 1 October 2026)
- Devon and Cornwall Police: CVF level 1 sheet (recruitment site, June 2025, PDF) — says interview questions and/or assessments use four to six questions, one to three on values; roles not stated (accessed 1 October 2026)
- Devon and Cornwall Police: Force interviews, CVF preparation guide (2024, PDF) — prepare examples for each competency and value; wrong level and buzzwords as common mistakes (accessed 1 October 2026)
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Disclaimer
PolicePay.co.uk is an independent guide. It is not affiliated with the College of Policing, the Home Office or any police force, and it does not recruit, vet or assess applicants. Recruitment standards, assessment formats and vetting decisions are set by the College of Policing and each force and change from time to time: check the force you are applying to before relying on anything here. Details apply to England and Wales unless stated. Details are as checked on 1 October 2026.