Lancashire Constabulary Jobs
Whether Lancashire is recruiting, which entry routes are open, what the job pays once allowances, tax and pension are counted, and exactly where to apply.
Also searched as lancashire constabulary, lancashire police, preston police. Lancashire Constabulary covers Lancashire, Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen.
Is Lancashire Constabulary recruiting? The short answer
On 1 October 2026 the national joining the police website listed Lancashire Constabulary under "recruiting soon" for every constable entry route it covers, so it was not advertising a constable or rejoiner intake there that day. New constables start on £32,255 a year (national pay point 1, no regional allowance), rising to £52,015 at the top of the constable scale, on rates from 1 September 2026. To apply, use the force's own recruitment page below, not a job board.
Constable routes open
None listed
National site, 1 October 2026
Starting salary
£32,255
Constable pay point 1, from 1 September 2026
Officers recruited
213 FTE
Year to 31 March 2026, excluding transfers (Home Office)
Job board reading
Says it's closed
Our tracker, all role types
We are independent and do not recruit for any force. Recruitment windows open and close without notice, so check the force's own site for current vacancies and closing dates before you rely on anything here. The route list is a dated reading of joiningthepolice.co.uk (national police recruitment site); this page stops showing it 35 days after that date. What Lancashire's own site said is a dated reading too, and this page stops showing it 60 days after 1 October 2026.
How Lancashire recruits: what its own site says
We read Lancashire Constabulary's own recruitment pages on 1 October 2026 and summarised what they state about its process and local rules, in our words, with a link to each page. These are the details that differ between forces and that a national guide cannot tell you. Anything not listed here we did not find on those pages, so ask the force's recruitment team rather than assume.
| Topic | What Lancashire's pages said | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Entry routes described | Lancashire said it was currently offering the PCEP and professional policing degree holder routes to new officers. | Force page ↗ 1 Oct 2026 |
| Driving licence | Applicants must hold a full manual UK driving licence at the time of application. | Force page ↗ 1 Oct 2026 |
| Residency | Applicants need three years' UK residency at the time of applying. | Force page ↗ 1 Oct 2026 |
| Training | PCEP training begins at force headquarters in Hutton, near Preston. | Force page ↗ 1 Oct 2026 |
| Also stated | The PCEP page said applications for that route were closed and pointed to job alerts. We did not see an application status for the degree holder route. | Force page ↗ 1 Oct 2026 |
Get ready for the online assessment
Every route runs through the College of Policing online assessment. The free readiness check shows which parts to work on first.
OAC readiness check →Vetting comes last and takes longest
Be honest and complete on the vetting form; forces say leaving something out can itself lead to refusal. The free stage checker explains where you are and what usually comes next.
Vetting stage checker →Lancashire vacancies we can see
Our tracker reads Lancashire's job board twice a day where the system allows it. Most adverts on a force job board are police staff roles, not constable intakes. Where the board blocks automated reading, the panel says so rather than guessing.
Lancashire vacancies right now
Read from Lancashire Constabulary's careers page today. We can see what they mention, not a vacancy list.
We can't read Lancashire Constabulary's vacancy list directly, so there's no live advert list on this page. Their careers site is linked above, and you can ask us to alert you below.
What Lancashire actually pays
Officer pay is set nationally, so the advert figure is the same almost everywhere. What changes between forces is the allowance on top, and no force advert tells you what lands in your account after the 12.88% pension contribution.
Starting salary
£32,255
National scale, no supplement
Take-home
£1,952
per month, after tax, NI and pension (estimate)
Top of scale
£52,015
constable pay point 7
Against all 43
#11
top payer is the Met at £42,334
Constable pay scale at Lancashire
Rates from 1 September 2026. New recruits join at point 1 of the 7-point scale (constables appointed since April 2013) and move up each year, subject to satisfactory performance. Some forces start recruits at point 2.
| Pay point | National base | At Lancashire |
|---|---|---|
| Point 1 (on appointment) | £32,255 | £32,255 |
| Point 2 | £33,609 | £33,609 |
| Point 3 | £34,972 | £34,972 |
| Point 4 | £36,335 | £36,335 |
| Point 5 | £39,058 | £39,058 |
| Point 6 | £44,544 | £44,544 |
| Point 7 | £52,015 | £52,015 |
Lancashire jobs are not only officer jobs
Searches for "lancashire police jobs" cover four quite different roles, each recruited on its own timetable. The figures are Lancashire Constabulary's own workforce at 31 March 2026 from the Home Office statistics.
Police officer (constable)
3,597 FTE
Warranted officers on the national pay scale, recruited through the entry routes below. £32,255 to start.
Officer routes →
Police staff
2,024 FTE
Call handling, custody detention officers, investigators, analysts, forensics, IT and admin. Pay is set by the force's own grading, not the officer scale.
Police staff guide →
PCSO
235 FTE
Paid, uniformed neighbourhood role without a warrant card. Recruited by each force on its own schedule.
How to become a PCSO →
Special constable
134 people
Unpaid volunteer officers with full police powers. Some forces count special constable service towards constable entry.
Special constable guide →
How to apply to Lancashire: the stages
Every force in England and Wales uses the College of Policing's national sift and online assessment, and appointment rules come from regulation 10 of the Police Regulations 2003; forces add their own steps in between. Each stage links to a free tool or guide for that step.
-
Step 1
Check you are eligible
Age 17 to apply and 18 to be appointed, the right to live and work in the UK, and the qualification for your chosen route. Residency, tattoos, debt and past offences are checked at vetting.
Eligibility reality check → -
Step 2
Choose a route the force has open
PCDA, PCEP, DHEP, the professional policing degree holder route, detective entry or rejoiner. Not every force runs every route at once.
Entry routes compared → -
Step 3
Application form and national sift
A national application form, then a situational judgement test and a behavioural styles questionnaire.
National sift guide → -
Step 4
Online assessment process
A competency-based interview, a written exercise and a briefing exercise, marked against the competency and values framework.
OAC readiness check → -
Step 5
Any force interview
Constable candidates other than transferees must pass an in-person interview with the force (Police Regulations 2003, regulation 10(1)(eb)). Check Lancashire's recruitment page for the format it uses.
Practise interview questions → -
Step 6
Fitness, medical and vetting
The job-related fitness test (15m multi-stage shuttle run), a medical and eyesight check, drugs test, and vetting of you and your close associates.
Vetting stage checker →
Not sure how long all of this takes? The free timeline planner lays out each stage from application to start date, so you can plan notice at work and money around it.
Plan my timeline →Ways to join Lancashire as an officer
Our tracker's last reading of Lancashire's careers pages found these routes mentioned. Each opens and closes on its own schedule.
PCEP
Police Constable Entry Programme
A two-year, non-degree route to becoming a police constable, delivered by the force. Forces can choose to accredit it with a level 5 professional policing qualification.
Two years, with a two-year probation
PCDA
Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship
A three-year apprenticeship where you are paid as a constable while completing a degree in professional policing practice, delivered by the force with a university.
Three years, with a three-year probation
DHEP
Degree Holder Entry Programme
A two-year route for people who already hold a degree in any subject, leading to a graduate diploma in professional policing practice paid for by the force.
Two years, with a two-year probation
Transferee
Transferee (Serving Officers)
A move for officers already serving in another force, keeping rank, pay point and pension scheme membership.
Set by the receiving force; vetting and references are the usual waits
Specials
Special Constable
A volunteer police officer with the same powers as a regular officer, giving a minimum number of hours each month alongside other work.
Ongoing, with a minimum monthly hours commitment set by each force
PCSO
Police Community Support Officer
A paid, uniformed, non-warranted role focused on neighbourhood policing, visibility and community engagement.
Permanent role, starting with an initial learning programme
Comparing routes? Read every police entry route compared, or compare Lancashire with other forces on pay and location.
Where you'd be policing
Lancashire Constabulary covers Lancashire, Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen, with headquarters at Hutton. New officers are usually posted where the force needs them rather than to a station of their choosing, so it is worth being realistic about commuting across the whole force area.
Lancashire recruitment questions
Is Lancashire Constabulary recruiting in 2026? +
On 1 October 2026 the national joining the police website listed Lancashire Constabulary under "recruiting soon" for every constable entry route it covers, so it was not advertising a constable or rejoiner intake there that day. Our own tracker, which reads the force's job board twice a day, reported: Read from Lancashire Constabulary's careers page today. We can see what they mention, not a vacancy list. Police staff, PCSO and special constable roles are advertised separately on the force's careers site, so a force can be closed to new constables and still have other vacancies open.
How do I apply to Lancashire Constabulary? +
Apply directly to Lancashire Constabulary through its own careers site. For police constable roles the national stages are an application form, the national sift (a situational judgement test and a behavioural styles questionnaire) and the College of Policing online assessment (a competency-based interview, a written exercise and a briefing exercise), followed by fitness, medical and vetting checks. Since 17 March 2026 the Police Regulations 2003 (regulation 10(1)(eb)) also require constable candidates, other than transferees, to pass an in-person interview with the force they apply to. Check Lancashire's recruitment page for how it runs that stage. The force decides which entry routes it opens and when.
Do I need a driving licence to join Lancashire Constabulary? +
We checked Lancashire Constabulary's recruitment pages on 1 October 2026. Applicants must hold a full manual UK driving licence at the time of application. Driving licence rules are set by each force, so another force may differ. Check the force page before you apply, especially if you are still learning or hold an automatic-only licence.
What are Lancashire Constabulary's residency rules? +
We checked Lancashire Constabulary's recruitment pages on 1 October 2026. Applicants need three years' UK residency at the time of applying. If you have lived or travelled abroad in that period, ask the force's recruitment team before applying rather than guessing.
Where are Lancashire Constabulary vacancies advertised? +
On Lancashire Constabulary's own careers and vacancies pages, which is the only place an application can be made. Constable entry routes also appear on the national joining the police website's "which forces are recruiting" list. Job boards sometimes repost police staff adverts, but the force's own advert is the one with the current closing date.
How much do Lancashire Constabulary officers get paid? +
New constables start on £32,255 a year (national pay point 1, no regional allowance), rising to £52,015 at the top of the constable scale, on rates from 1 September 2026. After income tax, National Insurance and the 12.88% pension contribution, the starting figure is roughly £1,952 a month. Increments move you up the scale each year, subject to satisfactory performance.
Which entry routes does Lancashire Constabulary use? +
We checked Lancashire Constabulary's own pages on 1 October 2026. Lancashire said it was currently offering the PCEP and professional policing degree holder routes to new officers. The national joining the police site listed none of its constable routes as open on 1 October 2026. Across England and Wales forces choose from the PCDA, PCEP, DHEP and professional policing degree holder routes, plus detective and rejoiner routes; check the force's site for its next intake.
Can I join Lancashire Constabulary without a degree? +
Nationally, yes: the PCDA and PCEP are open to people without a degree. The Home Office list in Annex BA lets a chief officer accept a level 3 qualification (such as two A levels), or equivalent experience, including service as a special constable or PCSO. Whether Lancashire Constabulary is running either route at the moment is a matter for the force; on 1 October 2026 the national site listed neither as open there.
How many officers does Lancashire Constabulary have? +
3,597 full-time equivalent officers (3,631 people) at 31 March 2026, according to the Home Office police workforce statistics published on 22 July 2026. In the year to 31 March 2026 the force took on 213 officers (FTE, excluding transfers) and 24 transferred in from other forces.
How long does Lancashire Constabulary recruitment take? +
There is no published national timescale, and it varies by force, intake date and how quickly vetting and medical checks clear. The College of Policing's guide to joining describes the stages but does not give a fixed length. Our recruitment timeline planner lays out the stages so you can see where the waits usually fall.
Where would I be posted with Lancashire Constabulary? +
Lancashire Constabulary covers Lancashire, Blackpool and Blackburn with Darwen, with headquarters at Hutton. The main population centres include Preston, Blackpool, Blackburn. New officers are usually posted where the force needs them rather than to a station of their choosing, so it is worth being realistic about travelling across the whole force area.
Does Lancashire Constabulary take transferees? +
Transfers between forces are decided by both chief officers and advertised by the receiving force when it has vacancies, so check Lancashire Constabulary's careers site. Our guide to transferring between forces explains what happens to your pay point, pension and probation.
Moving from another force? See how to transfer between police forces. Left the police and thinking of coming back? See rejoining the police.
What candidates say about applying to Lancashire Constabulary
Anonymous reviews from real officers and candidates — checked before publishing, never shared with the force.
0 reviews so far
Tell me when Lancashire opens
Lancashire Constabulary opens and closes recruitment windows at different times. Register once and we'll email you when a new Lancashire vacancy appears on our tracker, and, only if you tick the box, introduce you to their recruitment team.
Other forces in North West
Where these figures come from
- Lancashire Constabulary: explore our roles page (read 1 October 2026) — what the force's own site said about applications, routes, its interview and local rules
- Lancashire Constabulary: pcep page (read 1 October 2026) — what the force's own site said about applications, routes, its interview and local rules
- Home Office:Police workforce, England and Wales: 31 March 2026 (published 22 July 2026) — officer, staff, PCSO and special constable numbers and officer joiners for this force
- joiningthepolice.co.uk: which forces are recruiting (read 1 October 2026) — constable entry routes listed as open, by force
- College of Policing: joining the police as a new PC — the four constable entry routes and the national application stages
- Home Office Circular 002/2024, Annex BA: policing qualifications and experience — level 3 or equivalent for PCDA and PCEP; a degree for DHEP
- PolicePay: police pay scales 2026 — the constable scale and allowances used on this page
Take-home figures are estimates using 2026/27 tax and National Insurance and the police pension contribution rate for the salary band; your payslip will differ with tax code, overtime, allowances and student loan. PolicePay is independent and not affiliated with Lancashire Constabulary, the College of Policing or the Home Office.
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