Scotland vs
England and Wales

1. No National Sift in Scotland. The national application form, sift, online assessment and interview became legal requirements for constables in England and Wales on 17 March 2026. That law does not extend to Scotland.
2. A written entrance test instead. The PSET: 49 questions in 60 minutes, handwritten, three elements you must each pass.
3. No qualification requirement and no degree routes. Police Scotland asks for no formal qualifications; England and Wales require a selected qualification or experience.
4. An in-person assessment day, with a group discussion and a spoken situational judgement exercise, rather than online assessments.
5. Shorter initial training: 18 weeks, then a two-year probation, rather than a two- or three-year programme tied to an entry route.

England and Wales details vary by force and entry route. Always check the force you are applying to.

In England and Wales, regulation 10(1)(eb) of the Police Regulations 2003 now requires a candidate for constable (other than a transferee) to complete the national application form, pass the national sift test, pass the online assessment process and pass an in-person interview that meets the national standard, all to the College of Policing's standards. Those words were inserted by the Police (Amendment) (Recruitment Standards) Regulations 2026, in force from 17 March 2026, which state: "These Regulations extend to England and Wales."

Scotland has its own police legislation. Police Scotland's constables are appointed under the Police Service of Scotland Regulations 2013, whose qualifications for appointment (regulation 6) include passing an educational assessment approved by the chief constable and the Scottish Ministers. That is the PSET. So if you are applying to Police Scotland, you can skip National Sift preparation entirely, including situational judgement test practice built for the sift.

Police Scotland says: "To apply to become a police officer, you don't need any formal qualifications." It looks for real-life skills, values and resilience and checks literacy and numeracy through the PSET. There is one route in: apply, pass the selection process, train for 18 weeks and serve a two-year probation.

In England and Wales, regulation 10(1)(ea) requires "a selected qualification or experience" before appointment and new constables join through College of Policing entry routes. joiningthepolice.co.uk says the Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship normally takes three years and leads to a Level 6 degree and the Police Constable Entry Programme is a two-year programme; both ask for a Level 3 qualification (two A levels or equivalent) or equivalent experience. See our England and Wales entry routes guide.

Police Scotland also says it does not currently have a direct entry scheme for any rank. In England and Wales, regulation 10 refers to fast track and direct entry inspector and superintendent programmes.

Written and online tests

Police Scotland's PSET is a handwritten paper in ink under exam conditions, with a calculator provided: language (in its example paper, true, false or not possible to say questions about a passage), numbers and information handling. England and Wales's National Sift is an online test (the 2026 regulations define it as "the online test") made up of two exercises, a situational judgement test and a behavioural styles questionnaire, which joiningthepolice.co.uk says test the competencies and values important for policing. They test different things: the PSET checks literacy, numeracy and handling information, while the sift looks at judgement and typical behaviour at work.

Fitness

The same standard on both sides: 5.4 on a 15-metre multi-stage fitness test. In Scotland it comes before the assessment day and must have been completed within 6 months of being given a start date, or you retest before any formal offer.

Interviews and assessments

Police Scotland's assessment day has a morning of group and spoken exercises, then, if you pass, a 20-minute, four-question competency interview, each question tied to a named competency. England and Wales candidates take the College's online assessment process and then an in-person interview with their force. Our guides to the Police Scotland interview and the PSET go into detail.

Serving officers in a recognised Home Office force in England or Wales, in the PSNI or in the British Transport Police can be considered for transfer to Police Scotland with at least three years' service and no outstanding complaints. Officers from the Ministry of Defence Police, the Civil Nuclear Constabulary and other forces not classed as police forces under the Police Act 1996 cannot transfer and would apply as new candidates. Officers who joined on a direct entry detective pathway are not eligible. Transferees do a 3-week course at the Scottish Police College and locally, serve no probation and are paid at the Police Scotland rate for their length of service.

For officers moving the other way, the England and Wales regulations exempt candidates "applying to transfer to the force from another police force" from the national stages. We did not verify how individual English and Welsh forces treat Police Scotland officers, so ask the force you want to join.

This is a judgement, not a ranking. You might lean towards Police Scotland if you prefer a shorter initial training period without an entry route tied to a degree, you are comfortable with a timed written test and you want to live and work in Scotland. You might lean towards an English or Welsh force if you are 17 and want to apply now, you want a degree as part of training, or you want to choose a particular force area. Either way, compare take-home pay, not just salary, because Scottish income tax differs.

Thinking of British Transport Police? It polices Scotland's railways too, with its own process and a Scottish training route: see how to join British Transport Police.