We
Collaborate
The police competency about working with others: what it means at level 1, why older material calls it 'we are collaborative', eight practice questions, an example structure and how it shows in the OAC written exercise.
Independent information, not advice · Sources checked 21 October 2026 · England and Wales unless stated
It means working effectively with colleagues, other organisations and communities: building rapport, sharing information, helping others and avoiding working in silos. In the online assessment it is assessed in the written exercise, where strong responses involve the right partners. The national sift covers it too. Constables are assessed at level 1.
For police candidates in England and Wales. Descriptions paraphrase the College of Policing's 2024 framework at level 1. Questions and the example are PolicePay's own practice material.
What 'we collaborate' means at level 1
Our paraphrase of the 2024 framework at level 1:
- getting to know people in other teams, organisations and the community so you can work with them;
- building rapport;
- working flexibly across levels, teams and backgrounds;
- willingly helping colleagues;
- sharing information and learning from a diverse range of people.
Higher levels add building stakeholder networks, agreeing roles with partners and negotiating across different priorities. Level 1 is your part in joint work.
'We collaborate' or 'we are collaborative'?
The 2016 framework called this competency "we are collaborative". The 2024 framework renamed it "we collaborate" and rewrote the behaviours. The College's national sift guidance still lists "we are collaborative" for the SJT in one place, while using "we collaborate" for the BSQ. Treat them as the same competency; use the 2024 name.
Where it is assessed
| Stage | Assessed? |
|---|---|
| National sift: SJT and BSQ | Yes, both cover the six competencies |
| OAC: competency-based interview | Not on the College's list |
| OAC: written exercise | Yes |
| OAC: briefing exercise | Not on the College's list |
| Force interview | Depends on the force |
8 practice questions and what they test
| Question | What it is looking for |
|---|---|
| Tell us about a time you worked with another team or organisation to solve a problem. | Working across boundaries rather than in isolation. |
| Describe a time you built a working relationship with someone very different from you. | Building rapport across backgrounds. |
| Tell us about a time you shared information that helped someone else do their job. | Sharing knowledge and information. |
| Give an example of when you helped a colleague who was struggling with their workload. | Willingly helping colleagues. |
| Tell us about a time you learned something useful from someone with a different view. | Learning from a diverse range of people. |
| How would you work with a partner organisation whose priorities differ from yours? | A future-focused question: finding common ground. |
| Describe a time you got a group working together after a disagreement. | Making joint working effective. |
| Tell us about a time you made someone outside your team feel their contribution was valued. | Making partners feel valued. |
Try one out loud. Answer a practice question free and get a scored result in about a minute. No account. Practise in the free police mock interview
An example answer structure
Question: "Tell us about a time you worked with another team or organisation to solve a problem."
Situation: As a volunteer at a food bank, I noticed several clients were also asking about help with energy bills, which we could not give.
Task: Find a way to get them proper advice without overloading our volunteers.
Action: I contacted the local advice centre, met their coordinator to understand what they needed from a referral and agreed a simple form. I briefed the other volunteers and shared a weekly list of referrals so the advice centre could plan appointments.
Result: Over two months the advice centre took our referrals and set up a monthly drop-in at the food bank. I learned that agreeing who does what early saves both sides time.
How it shows in the written exercise
- Name the partners. The school, the council, the bus operator, the housing association: whoever the items mention.
- Say what each should do. "Ask the operator about a second bus" is stronger than "work with partners".
- Pick up offers in the items. If an item offers help, use it.
- Plan joint follow-up. A shared review date or point of contact.
Try a full timed written task in the mock (part of the 90-day pass):
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Map your collaboration examples
List your experiences and tick "collaborate" where they fit. The grid shows whether you have evidence for every area. Saved in your browser only.
Free example bank builder
Map your real experiences to the 2024 CVF
Add 6 to 8 experiences from work, study, volunteering or home, each as a few words you will recognise (for example "complaint about the late delivery"). Then tick what each one could show. Saved in this browser only.
Use this to prepare, then put it away. The College says notes or scripts prepared before the assessment may result in automatic failure and you must not have them in sight on the day. Aim to remember your examples, not to read them.
Common mistakes
- Saying "we" throughout so your own part disappears.
- Choosing teamwork within your own small team when the question asks about other organisations.
- In the written exercise: a police-only plan that ignores partners named in the items.
- Using the 2016 name: harmless, but a sign your material is old.
The College says notes or scripts prepared before the online assessment may result in automatic failure.
Level 1 compared with levels 2 and 3
Our paraphrase of the College's 2024 framework, to show what level 1 does and does not ask for:
| Level | What collaboration looks like |
|---|---|
| Level 1 (recruitment) | Getting to know people in other teams, organisations and the community; building rapport; working flexibly across levels and backgrounds; willingly helping colleagues; learning from a diverse range of people. |
| Level 2 | Building wide stakeholder networks; agreeing clear roles with partners; joined-up solutions across boundaries; long-term partnerships; mixed teams. |
| Level 3 | Negotiating across different priorities; understanding national policy and politics; anticipating conflict; a culture where partnership working delivers. |
Who police work with: partners worth knowing
You do not need policing knowledge for the assessments, but knowing the kinds of organisations a constable works with helps you recognise collaboration in a scenario. Common examples:
| Partner | Typical shared problem |
|---|---|
| Local council | Anti-social behaviour, parks, lighting, licensing, community safety |
| Schools | Young people's safety, behaviour on the way home, safeguarding |
| Housing providers | Neighbour disputes, noise, vulnerable tenants |
| Health services | Mental health crises, welfare concerns |
| Transport operators | Crowding, safety at stops and stations |
| Community and faith groups | Trust, reaching people who rarely contact the police |
| Businesses | Shop theft, staff safety, town centre issues |
In the written exercise, use only the partners the four items mention. Naming an organisation the items do not mention is adding information.
Weak and strong evidence, side by side
| Weak | Stronger | Why |
|---|---|---|
| "I am a great team player." | "I rang the warehouse supervisor each Monday so we could plan deliveries together." | An action that built a working relationship. |
| "We worked together and sorted it." | "I suggested we split the list by area and I took the two streets nobody wanted." | Your own part in the joint work. |
| "I got on with everyone." | "I asked the night staff what made handovers hard, because they rarely came to our meetings." | Seeking out views you would not otherwise hear. |
| "The other team was the problem." | "Their priorities were different, so I asked what they needed from us first." | Finding common ground instead of blame. |
| "I passed it on to them." | "I passed it on with the details they needed and checked a week later that it had been picked up." | Collaboration includes following through. |
A second example: a future-focused question
Question: "How would you work with a partner organisation whose priorities differ from yours?" An illustrative outline:
- Understand them first. "I would ask what they are trying to achieve and what pressures they are under."
- Find the overlap. "Most partners want the same outcome for the person or place, even if their targets differ."
- Agree who does what. "I would agree specific actions and a date to check in, so nothing falls between us."
- Keep them informed. "I would update them even when there is no news, because trust builds on reliability."
- Back it up. "When the food bank and the advice centre had different referral rules, I did exactly this and we agreed one simple form."
Follow-up questions a force panel might ask
| Follow-up | What it is probing |
|---|---|
| What did you personally do to make it work? | Your own contribution |
| What happened when you disagreed? | Handling difference constructively |
| How did you keep the other side informed? | Sharing information |
| What did you learn from them? | Learning from others |
| Would you work with them again? Why? | Reflection on the relationship |
Forces set their own interview questions; these are practice probes, not a force's list.
Evidence checklist
- a problem you solved with another team or organisation;
- a working relationship you built with someone very different from you;
- information you shared that helped someone else;
- a time you helped a colleague with their workload;
- something you learned from a person with a different view;
- a disagreement you helped turn into a shared plan;
- a time you made someone outside your team feel valued.
In the written exercise, a quick check before you submit: have I named the partners in the items, said what each should do and suggested how we will follow up together?
What we could not verify
- How assessors weigh this competency in the written exercise.
- Which forces use it in their in-person interviews.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does 'we collaborate' mean in the police CVF?
It is one of the six competencies in the College of Policing's 2024 framework: working effectively with colleagues, other organisations and the public, building relationships, sharing information and skills, helping others and avoiding working in silos.
Is it 'we collaborate' or 'we are collaborative'?
The 2024 framework uses 'we collaborate'. 'We are collaborative' was the 2016 name. The College's national sift guidance still uses the older wording in one place, but current material should use 'we collaborate'.
Where is 'we collaborate' assessed in police recruitment?
In the online assessment process, the College lists it as one of the four areas the written exercise assesses. The national sift also covers it. It is not on the College's list for the online interview or the briefing exercise.
What is a good 'we collaborate' example?
A real situation where working with people outside your usual team got a better result than working alone: you built the relationship, shared information, agreed who would do what and followed through. Work, study, volunteering and community examples all count.
How do I show collaboration in the OAC written exercise?
Recommend working with the partners the items mention, say what each should do and why and pick up any offers of help in the items. A police-only answer usually misses the collaboration the task is designed to test.
Do I need to have led a team to show collaboration?
No. Level 1 is about your own part in working with others: building rapport, helping colleagues, learning from people and sharing information.
Should I say 'we' in a collaboration answer?
Describe the joint work, but make your own actions clear with 'I'. Assessors need to hear what you did to make the collaboration work.
What are good police interview questions about teamwork?
Typical questions ask about working with another team or organisation, building a relationship with someone different from you, sharing information, helping a colleague or turning a disagreement into a plan. Forces set their own questions for the in-person interview.
Does 'we collaborate' appear in the national sift?
Yes. The College says both sift exercises cover the six competencies. In the SJT, actions that involve the right people and share information are often rated higher than going it alone.
Can collaboration examples come from sport or volunteering?
Yes. The College says examples from work and personal life are fine. A sports club working with a school, or volunteers working with a charity, can show level 1 collaboration well.
Sources and how we checked them
Every factual claim on this page was written from the sources below, read on 21 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: Competency and values framework : we collaborate as a 2024 competency (formerly we are collaborative) (accessed 21 October 2026)
- College of Policing: Online assessment process candidate guide (updated 21 July 2026) : assessed in the written exercise; level 1 (accessed 21 October 2026)
- College of Policing: National sift candidate guidance (May 2026 PDF; page updated 1 June 2026) : SJT list uses 'we are collaborative'; BSQ list uses 'we collaborate' (accessed 21 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 21 October 2026.