Fast Track Pay and Time-to-Rank Planner
Compare scale salary on a standard route you describe with the Fast Track timetable in the College's published documents. Gross scale pay only. It predicts nothing about selection, passing or promotion.
Checked 6 October 2026. Pay data effective 1 September 2026.
Your starting point
Pay points are the ones in PolicePay's scale data. We do not map points to years of service: pick the point on your pay statement. The months-between-steps figure is an assumption (12 by default): the data file does not give increment dates, so check how your force moves officers up the scale.
These two numbers are your own assumptions. They are not statistics: no verified source gives typical times to promotion.
Two timelines, side by side
- 1 Sept 2026 Constable, point 3: £34,972
- 1 Sept 2032 Sergeant (assumed): Sergeant point 2, £55,443
- 1 Sept 2026 Constable, point 3: £34,972
- 12 Jan 2029 Temporary sergeant (handbook: within six weeks of 1 December): Sergeant point 2, £55,443 (temporary; modelled at the substantive scale)
- 12 Jan 2030 Substantive sergeant (12 months after temporary promotion): Sergeant point 3, £56,573
- 1 Dec 2030 Temporary inspector (on completing the programme): Inspector point 0, £66,000 (temporary; modelled at the substantive scale)
Scale pay by year, and the cumulative difference
| Year | Route A pay | Route B pay | Difference | Cumulative | End of year, A | End of year, B |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 1 Sept 2026 | £34,972 | £34,972 | £0 | £0 | Constable, point 3 | Constable, point 3 |
| 2 1 Sept 2027 | £36,335 | £36,335 | £0 | £0 | Constable, point 4 | Constable, point 4 |
| 3 1 Sept 2028 | £39,058 | £49,497 | £10,439 | £10,439 | Constable, point 5 | Sergeant (temporary), point 2 |
| 4 1 Sept 2029 | £44,544 | £56,163 | £11,619 | £22,058 | Constable, point 6 | Sergeant, point 3 |
| 5 1 Sept 2030 | £52,015 | £63,643 | £11,628 | £33,686 | Constable, point 7 | Inspector (temporary), point 0 |
| 6 1 Sept 2031 | £52,015 | £67,349 | £15,334 | £49,020 | Constable, point 7 | Inspector (temporary), point 1 |
| 7 1 Sept 2032 | £55,443 | £69,141 | £13,698 | £62,718 | Sergeant, point 2 | Inspector (temporary), point 2 |
| 8 1 Sept 2033 | £56,573 | £70,944 | £14,371 | £77,089 | Sergeant, point 3 | Inspector (temporary), point 3 |
| 9 1 Sept 2034 | £58,175 | £71,396 | £13,221 | £90,310 | Sergeant, point 4 | Inspector (temporary), point 3 |
| 10 1 Sept 2035 | £58,175 | £71,396 | £13,221 | £103,531 | Sergeant, point 4 | Inspector (temporary), point 3 |
The Fast Track temporary-sergeant date is taken as the latest the handbook allows (six weeks after 1 December, 12 January). Year 1 starts on your start date. Annual scale salary from PolicePay's data effective 1 Sept 2026, held flat (no future awards), counted by calendar-month share when a promotion falls mid-year. Gross scale pay only.
What this leaves out
- Overtime. Police Regulations 2003 regulation 25 provides overtime compensation, and Annex G of the Secretary of State's determinations, as issued in 2003 (Home Office circular 023/2003 on gov.uk) and in an undated Federation-hosted copy, says only constables and sergeants may be compensated for overtime, so inspectors are outside overtime pay. We have not checked later amendments to Annex G. A Fast Track officer who is a temporary or substantive sergeant stays within the constable and sergeant provisions. Overtime is not in these figures either way.
- Allowances and regional supplements, including London weighting and the Met or City allowances, are not included. Only the Met/City inspector scale in the data file is modelled, and only as a choice of scale.
- Tax, National Insurance and pension contributions. Every figure is gross scale salary, not take-home and not monthly pay. For net figures use the promotion pay calculator.
- Temporary-promotion pay. Temporary salary and temporary promotion pay are set under regulation 27 and its determinations (Annex I as issued in 2003 pays acting-up officers the lowest rate of the higher rank), and we have not read the current text or checked how it applies to Fast Track temporary promotions. The planner pays temporary ranks at the substantive scale, starting on the lowest listed point of each rank. Both are assumptions, not confirmed rules. Route B inspector pay is labelled temporary because no source gives a date for substantive inspector.
- Future pay awards, other force pay decisions and any change to the Fast Track scheme are not modelled.
Not advice. This is an illustration from PolicePay's scale data effective 1 Sept 2026, calculated from the 2025/26 pay review body scales plus the 3.5% award and rounded; the Home Office's own figures may differ by a few pounds. Nothing here predicts selection, the assessment centre, the exam, a pass or any promotion. Fast Track is a force-sponsored national programme and the next application window is expected in May 2028. Your inputs stay in this browser only.
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The Cohort 13 timeline
The College's Fast Track constable to inspector page, as served on 6 October 2026, gives an indicative Cohort 13 timeline. The planner's "Cohort 13" button uses its December 2028 programme start, set to 1 December 2028 because the 2022 handbook counts the six-week promotion window from 1 December.
| When | Stage (indicative) |
|---|---|
| May 2028 | Application window expected to open |
| May to June 2028 | Force selection |
| September 2028 | National assessment centre |
| December 2028 | Programme module one |
These are expectations on the College page, not commitments. The College page also says the schemes are run by forces that choose to participate.
Promotion timing: what each document says
| Step | Handbook 2022 (s13) | Operating Manual July 2024 (11.3) |
|---|---|---|
| Temporary sergeant | Within six weeks of 1 December | At the start of year two |
| Substantive sergeant | 12 months from the date of promotion to temporary sergeant | At the start of year three |
| Temporary inspector | On successfully completing the programme | On successfully completing the programme |
The handbook adds that promotion is by regulation and "not subject to or affected by vacancies". The 2024 Assessment Centre guide says candidates start the two-year programme as a temporary sergeant. That reads closer to the handbook than to the manual, but we cannot resolve the inconsistency, so the planner lets you run either. Under the manual wording the substantive-sergeant date and the temporary-inspector date coincide, which means a year as sergeant and then inspector.
No source gives a single calendar date for substantive inspector, so the planner does not show one. The Police Leadership Commission report of July 2026 says forces are expected to promote delegates to substantive inspector within a year of graduating, and the handbook expects the Step 4 inspector work-based assessment to move an officer towards full qualification within a year.
How the arithmetic works
- Pay points come from one file. Constable, sergeant (points 2 to 4) and inspector (points 0 to 3) figures are read from PolicePay's scale data. Nothing is typed in separately.
- Promotion lands on the lowest listed point. The file does not say where a promoted officer is placed, so the planner starts sergeant on point 2 and inspector on point 0.
- Pay points step up on a fixed interval (12 months by default) from the date you enter a rank, until the top listed point.
- Mid-year promotions are split by days in each calendar month, so a promotion on 12 January pays constable rate for 11 days of January and sergeant rate for the rest.
- Both routes share your constable pay point until their first promotion, so the difference only builds up after the Fast Track officer is promoted.
- Pay is held flat at the 2026/27 figures. A pay award would raise both routes, so the cash figures are not a forecast.
The cumulative difference can be negative early on if route B is not yet promoted and route A is, or if you give route A an earlier promotion than route B. That is a result of the numbers you entered, not a judgement on either route.
What Fast Track involves, from the College page and handbook
- A two-year development programme and promotion mechanism for serving constables and detective constables, with force sponsorship.
- A national assessment centre run by the College; the 2022 handbook allows two attempts, then a five-year bar.
- The ordinary NPPF Step 2 inspectors' legal knowledge exam. The July 2024 manual says 65% or above to stay on the programme, with 55% to under 65% allowed to stay subject to chief officer approval and a retake in year two.
- A failure at the assessment, exam or final report means leaving the programme and reverting to the substantive rank and the standard route (handbook 2022). The planner models only the case where every stage goes to the timetable.
For the pay and lifestyle trade-offs read Is police Fast Track worth it? For the internal route and how forces handle it see the Fast Track inspector internal route. For take-home figures use the promotion pay calculator.
Questions
What does the Fast Track planner actually calculate?
Annual gross scale salary on two routes from your start date: a standard route where you type in when you might reach sergeant and inspector, and the Fast Track timetable from the College documents. It shows the pay point at each rank, pay by year, and the running difference over the horizon you choose, up to 15 years.
Are the standard-route defaults how long promotion really takes?
No. The defaults of 6 and 12 years are placeholders so the table is not empty. No source we have read gives typical times to sergeant or inspector, so we do not offer one. Change them to match your own situation, or try several values.
Why does the planner offer two Fast Track timetables?
Because two College documents word it differently. The 2022 Fast Track handbook says forces promote to temporary sergeant within six weeks of 1 December and to substantive sergeant 12 months after that. The July 2024 NPPF Operating Manual says temporary sergeant at the start of year two and substantive sergeant at the start of year three. Both say temporary inspector on successfully completing the programme. We could not find a 2026 handbook to settle it.
When is the next Fast Track application window?
The College's Fast Track constable to inspector page, as served on 6 October 2026, says the application window now opens every second year and that Cohort 13 is expected to open in May 2028. Its indicative timeline is force selection in May to June 2028, the national assessment centre in September 2028 and programme module one in December 2028. Nobody can apply today.
Does the planner include overtime?
No. Overtime is outside the figures. Police Regulations 2003 regulation 25 provides overtime compensation, and Annex G of the Secretary of State's determinations, as issued in 2003 (Home Office circular 023/2003 on gov.uk) and in an undated Federation-hosted copy, says only constables and sergeants may be compensated for it, so inspectors are outside overtime pay. We have not checked later amendments to Annex G. A Fast Track officer who is a sergeant stays within those provisions until promoted to inspector.
Why are the results gross and not take-home?
Take-home depends on tax, National Insurance, pension contributions, student loans and other deductions that vary by person. This tool only compares scale salary. The promotion pay calculator estimates net pay under stated assumptions.
Which inspector pay does it use, and what about London?
You choose between the Other forces scale and the Met/City scale held in PolicePay's data file. Those are two published scale variants only. London weighting, other regional supplements and any allowances are not modelled.
How is temporary promotion pay handled?
Temporary sergeant and temporary inspector are paid at the substantive scale, starting on the lowest listed point of the rank (sergeant point 2, inspector point 0). Route B inspector pay is labelled temporary because no source dates substantive inspector. The handbook timetable is modelled at the latest date it allows: 12 January, six weeks after 1 December. The handbook says Fast Track pay is set under the Police Regulations 2003 (it cites regulation 24; temporary salary and temporary promotion are regulation 27, which leaves the rates to the Secretary of State's determinations). We have not read the current determinations for temporary promotion, so treat this as an assumption.
Does this predict whether I would be selected or pass?
No. It has no selection-odds or pass-rate element and makes no estimate of either. Forces choose whether to take part and whom to nominate, the national assessment centre is run by the College, and a candidate must also pass the NPPF inspectors' exam. Failing at a stage means reverting to the substantive rank and the standard route, per the 2022 handbook.
Is anything I enter stored or sent to you?
Your inputs are saved in your own browser (local storage) so the planner remembers them, and nowhere else. The only analytics event is a count of use with your chosen horizon in years. If you choose to sign up for updates, only your email address is sent.
How current is the pay data?
It is PolicePay's scale data effective 01/09/2026, calculated from the 2025/26 Police Remuneration Review Body scales plus the 3.5% award and rounded to the nearest pound. The file warns that the Home Office's own published figures may differ by a few pounds. The planner holds the scales flat and does not model future pay awards.
Not verified
We could not confirm the following, so treat each as open.
- Which timetable (2022 handbook or 2024 manual) applies to Cohort 13. We found no 2026 handbook.
- How temporary sergeant and temporary inspector pay is set, and which pay point a promoted officer is placed on. The planner assumes the lowest listed point of the rank.
- When pay points increase in each force. The planner assumes one step every 12 months by default, which you can change.
- Typical time to sergeant or inspector on the standard route. No source gives one, and the standard route is your own assumption.
- Whether Annex G (overtime) or Annex I (temporary salary) has been amended since the 2003 text we read on gov.uk. We found no current consolidated determination.
- Any date for substantive inspector. The Police Leadership Commission table says forces are expected to promote delegates to substantive inspector within a year of graduating, but no source gives a calendar date, so the planner shows temporary inspector only.
- Cohort 13 applicant numbers, assessment centre pass rates and later-career outcomes. None is published that we could find, so none is shown.
Sources
All opened on 6 October 2026 except the pay file, which is PolicePay's own data.
- PolicePay pay scale data, effective 1 September 2026 (src/data/pay-scales-ew.json): constable, sergeant and inspector scales
- College of Policing, Fast Track constable to inspector (FTCI) programme page, as served on the College production host, 6 October 2026
- College of Policing, Fast Track programme handbook 2022, section 13 (promotion timing) and section 19.3 (pay)
- College of Policing, NPPF Operating Manual, July 2024, section 11
- Police Regulations 2003, regulation 24 (pay), regulation 25 (overtime) and regulation 27 (temporary salary and temporary promotion)
- Home Office circular 023/2003 with the Secretary of State's determinations as issued in 2003 (Annex G, overtime; Annex I, temporary salary), gov.uk
- Annex G (overtime), copy hosted by a Federation branch, undated
- Police (Promotion) Regulations 1996 (Fast Track programme qualification rules)
Related
Independent illustration by PolicePay, which owns this tool. Not affiliated with or endorsed by the College of Policing. Not financial or career advice. Pay scale figures are PolicePay's rounded data effective 1 September 2026; Fast Track timing is from College documents read on 6 October 2026 and may have changed.