BTP
Medical and Eyesight Standards

British Transport Police (BTP) publishes a lot of medical detail, but most of it sits in PDFs attached to its adverts rather than on its careers pages. The main one is the "Medical Fitness Police Officer Applicants Recruitment Quick Reference Guide, version 2", attached to the C Division constable advert. Its starting point is that Occupational Health assesses "functional ability" rather than diagnosis and treats each case individually.

• When: after a conditional offer, as part of the pre-employment checks.
• Who: a doctor or registered nurse. BTP moved occupational health fully in-house in 2025/26.
• What: eyesight, hearing, blood pressure and body mass, height and weight, plus a drugs and alcohol test.
• BMI: no maximum.
• Outcomes: Fit, Fit with adjustments, Temporarily deferred, Further evidence required or Not fit.

If you have not checked the other rules yet, start with our BTP eligibility requirements.

Each row has its own section below with the exact wording and what it means in practice.

The medical is near the end of BTP's process. BTP's guidance page lists the stages in this order:

Two things follow. First, you will usually have passed the fitness test long before the medical, so the two are separate checks. Second, the medical comes after your conditional offer but before the formal offer. BTP's FAQ says not to resign from your job until the formal offer.

BTP's Inner London advert lists the stages slightly differently (with a medical assessment before vetting, references and pre-employment checks). Either way, the medical is one of the final checks.

BTP's guide says Occupational Health assesses "functional ability" rather than diagnosis and that each case is individual. In practice that means the question is whether you can do the job safely, with or without adjustments, rather than whether you have a particular condition on your record.

• A diagnosis alone does not bar you. The guide says so for mental health and neurodiversity.
• Many numbers in the guide are triggers for further assessment, not pass or fail lines. Hearing and blood pressure work this way.
• A few points are firm: complete colour vision loss, RK, AK and corneal grafts and colour-correcting lenses.

This is why "Further evidence required" and "Temporarily deferred" exist as outcomes. They let Occupational Health look at how a condition affects you before it decides.

BTP's guide names five outcomes. It does not define them in detail on the pages we read, so the middle column is our plain-English reading, not BTP's wording.

BTP's target is below 140/90 mmHg. Its guide says raised readings lead to repeats or deferral and are "not usually a rejection".

Blood pressure is written as two numbers: the higher one is the pressure when your heart beats and the lower one the pressure between beats. A reading of 145/85 is above target on the first number; 135/92 is above on the second. Readings can rise when you are anxious, rushed or have just had caffeine, which is one reason repeats exist.

• Get a reading at your GP surgery or a pharmacy well before your medical, so a raised figure is not a surprise.
• If it is high, speak to your GP. Follow their advice, not ours.
• On the day, arrive early so you are not rushed.

BTP's guide says there is "No maximum BMI limit" and "BMI alone is never used to reject candidates". BTP's guidance still lists body mass among the medical checks and the recruitment pack says height and weight are measured.

Not having a BMI limit does not remove the physical side of the job. You still need to reach level 5.4 on the 15-metre bleep test at the assessment centre and again in training. See our BTP fitness test guide.

BTP does not publish a minimum height on the pages we read.

BTP's guide gives two thresholds, both measured in decibels hearing level (dB HL). On a hearing test, a higher dB HL figure means a sound has to be louder before you hear it.

Note the wording: neither figure is a fail line. They trigger a closer look at how you hear in practice. Airwave is the radio system officers use, so being able to follow radio traffic is part of the functional question.

If you already know you have some hearing loss, get a recent hearing test result to bring with you and wear your hearing aids to the medical if you use them.

Eyesight figures use the 6/x scale. 6/12 means you can read at 6 metres what someone with standard vision can read at 12 metres. The smaller the second number, the sharper the vision: 6/6 is sharper than 6/12, which is sharper than 6/36.

Glasses and contact lenses are acceptable. The uncorrected 6/36 figure is a separate minimum for people who wear them: it is measured without your glasses or lenses. BTP does not explain the reason for it on the pages we read.

Before you apply, ask an optician for your acuity in 6/x notation for each eye and both eyes together, with and without your glasses or lenses. Compare those figures with the table.

BTP's guide says only complete colour vision loss (monochromats, who see no colour at all) is incompatible with the role. Two more points come from BTP's transferee pack:

• Severe anomalous trichromats may be unsuitable for authorised firearms officer (AFO) and Taser roles.
• Colour-correcting lenses are not acceptable.

BTP does not say which colour vision test it uses. If you know you have a colour vision deficiency, ask your optician to describe its type and severity so you can answer questions accurately.

BTP's transferee and rejoiner pack sets out which eye operations are acceptable:

If you are thinking about laser surgery, time it so that six weeks have passed before your medical and keep the surgeon's report with the date and procedure name. If you had eye surgery years ago and do not know which type, ask the clinic or your optician before you apply.

BTP's guide says a diagnosis alone does not bar you. It lists autism, ADHD and dyslexia as "Fully accepted".

For mental health conditions, the same functional ability approach applies: Occupational Health looks at how a condition affects you now and whether you can do the role safely, with or without adjustments. BTP does not publish a list of mental health conditions that are or are not accepted, so we do not give one.

• Have your diagnosis letter or assessment report to hand in case you are asked for it.
• If a condition is well managed, a short letter from your GP or specialist saying so may help if "Further evidence required" comes up.
• Answer health questions honestly. BTP treats non-disclosure as dishonesty and says it can mean a permanent bar.

Our general guide to mental health and neurodiversity in police recruitment covers the wider picture; check anything BTP-specific against this page.

Invented applicants, not real cases, checked only against the figures BTP publishes. "Further look" means the figure triggers an assessment or review rather than a decision. Occupational Health decides every case.

The examples show the pattern in BTP's guide: a handful of firm rules (complete colour vision loss, RK, AK, corneal grafts, colour-correcting lenses, the surgery wait) and a larger set of figures that start a closer look.

• Special Constables. BTP's April 2018 abbreviated medical standards are written for constables and Special Constables together. Specials also take the 5.4 bleep test at their assessment centre. See our BTP Special Constables guide.
• Transferees and re-joiners. BTP's transferee and rejoiner pack is the source for the 6/36 uncorrected figure, the eye surgery rules and the firearms and Taser colour vision note. Transferees also go through a medical before a formal offer. See our BTP transferee guide.
• PCSOs. BTP's PCSO pages describe the same shape of process, but we have not seen a separate PCSO medical standard. See our BTP PCSO guide.

Questions worth asking

Because BTP leaves some points unpublished, these are worth asking recruitment or Occupational Health if they apply to you:

• "My uncorrected vision is close to 6/36. Can I have it checked before the medical?"
• "What evidence would you want for my condition, so I can have it ready?"
• "If I am deferred, how long do I have to provide what you need?"
• "If I am found not fit, is there a review?"

Write down the answer, who gave it and the date.

Mistakes to avoid

• Not applying because of your BMI. BTP has no maximum.
• Booking laser surgery less than six weeks before your medical.
• Turning up without your glasses, lenses or hearing aids.
• Leaving a condition off in the hope it is not noticed. Non-disclosure is treated as dishonesty.
• Being slow to send the evidence Occupational Health asks for.
• Letting your fitness slip after the assessment centre. You are retested in your first week of training.
• Resigning from your job before the formal offer.