Merseyside Police Jobs

On 1 October 2026 the national joining the police website listed Merseyside Police 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 Merseyside Police's own job board, today. 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.

Apply directly to Merseyside Police 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. Merseyside Police's own site described its stage when we checked it on 1 October 2026. The PCEP page lists an invitation to interview after the online assessment, before fitness, medical, vetting, biometric and reference checks.

We checked Merseyside Police's recruitment pages on 1 October 2026. All police officer 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.

Yes. The Police Regulations 2003 (regulation 10(1)(eb)) require constable candidates, other than transferees, to pass an in-person interview with the force. Its own recruitment pages, checked on 1 October 2026, say the following. The PCEP page lists an invitation to interview after the online assessment, before fitness, medical, vetting, biometric and reference checks. This is separate from the competency-based interview inside the College of Policing online assessment. Our mock interview tool lets you practise answering competency questions out loud.

We checked Merseyside Police's recruitment pages on 1 October 2026. Applicants must have been resident in the UK for the last three years, except UK military or HM Government personnel working overseas. If you have lived or travelled abroad in that period, ask the force's recruitment team before applying rather than guessing.

On Merseyside Police'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.

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.

We checked Merseyside Police's own pages on 1 October 2026. The force lists PCEP, PCDA, the professional policing degree holder route and the Detective Constable Entry Programme, delivered with Liverpool John Moores University. PCEP learning is mostly at the Mather Avenue Training Academy. 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.

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 Merseyside Police 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.

4,166 full-time equivalent officers (4,209 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 180 officers (FTE, excluding transfers) and 27 transferred in from other forces.

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.

Merseyside Police covers Liverpool, Wirral, Sefton, Knowsley and St Helens, with headquarters at Liverpool. The main population centres include Liverpool, Birkenhead, Southport. 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.

Transfers between forces are decided by both chief officers and advertised by the receiving force when it has vacancies, so check Merseyside Police's careers site. Our guide to transferring between forces explains what happens to your pay point, pension and probation.