Thames Valley Police Jobs

We checked Thames Valley Police's own recruitment site on 1 October 2026. PCEP, PCDA and the professional policing degree route were each marked as accepting applications. On 1 October 2026 the national joining the police website listed Thames Valley Police as recruiting police constables through PCDA, PCEP, PPD holder and Rejoiner. Our own tracker, which reads the force's job board twice a day, reported: This force's recruitment system blocks automated checks, so we can't read it directly. 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 Thames Valley 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. Thames Valley Police's own site described its stage when we checked it on 1 October 2026. Thames Valley lists an interview as a separate step after the online assessment centre and a provisional offer, before fitness, medical, references and vetting.

We checked Thames Valley Police's recruitment pages on 1 October 2026. You need a full UK driving licence by the time of the formal offer. The force's February 2026 announcement accepts automatic-only licences, but its eligibility FAQ still said manual when we read it on 1 October 2026, so check with the force. 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. Thames Valley lists an interview as a separate step after the online assessment centre and a provisional offer, before fitness, medical, references and vetting. 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 Thames Valley Police's recruitment pages on 1 October 2026. Applicants must have been UK resident for the last three years. PCDA applicants cannot be accepted with pre-settled status because of apprenticeship funding rules. If you have lived or travelled abroad in that period, ask the force's recruitment team before applying rather than guessing.

On Thames Valley 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 £35,360 a year (£32,255 national pay point 1 plus £3,105 of allowances), rising to £55,120 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 £2,138 a month. Increments move you up the scale each year, subject to satisfactory performance.

We checked Thames Valley Police's own pages on 1 October 2026. The force lists PCEP (24 weeks' initial training), PCDA (21 weeks, BSc with the Police Education Consortium), the professional policing degree route (14 weeks) and the Detective Constable Entry Programme (24 weeks). On 1 October 2026 the national site listed PCDA, PCEP, PPD holder and Rejoiner as open at Thames Valley Police. Routes open and close separately, so a route missing from that list may simply be between intakes.

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 Thames Valley Police is running either route at the moment is a matter for the force; on 1 October 2026 the national site listed PCDA and PCEP as open there.

5,085 full-time equivalent officers (5,154 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 429 officers (FTE, excluding transfers) and 29 transferred in from other forces.

We checked Thames Valley Police's own pages on 1 October 2026. The force says it typically takes six to nine months from initial application to start date. That is the force's own estimate; individual cases vary with intake dates and how quickly vetting and medical checks clear. Our recruitment timeline planner lays out the stages so you can see where the waits usually fall.

Thames Valley Police covers Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, with headquarters at Kidlington. The main population centres include Reading, Milton Keynes, Oxford. 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 Thames Valley Police's careers site. Our guide to transferring between forces explains what happens to your pay point, pension and probation.