Early Careers

South Wales Police is committed to providing different entry routes within our Police Staff and Uniformed departments for people who are looking to begin a career within Policing.

As well as Apprenticeships, Internships and Graduate programmes offered by departments, there are also opportunities for direct entry into the force.

Early Careers: Police Officers and Detectives

Entry Route	Minimum Qualification for entry	Qualification you will work towards	Duration of programme	Find out more
Apprenticeship	Level 3 Qualification in any subject*	Degree in Professional Policing	3 years	Click here to learn more.
Degree Holder – Police Officer	Level 6 (degree) Qualification in any subject**	Diploma in Professional Policing	2 years	Click here to learn more.
Degree Holder - Detective	Level 6 (degree) Qualification in any subject**	Diploma in Professional Policing and NIE qualification	2 years	Click here to learn more.

* If you do not have a level 3 qualification you can still apply for this role, but you will need to complete a Verbal Reasoning and Calculation Test as part of your application.

**At present the only prohibiting degree for these routes is the Professional Policing Degree. This is because there is a different training course content – those with this degree can apply directly to the Pre-Join Police Officer programme (Professional Policing Degree route) when open.

Early Careers: Police Staff

Entry Route	Minimum Qualification for entry	Qualification you will work towards	Duration of programme	Find out more
Apprenticeship programme	5 GCSE’s including Maths and English	BTEC Level 3 (subject dependent on role)	12-18 months	Click here to learn more.
Internship programme	Currently studying on a degree course or have graduated within three years.*	-	12 months	Click here to learn more.
Graduate programme	Currently be studying on a degree course or have graduated within three years.**	Department specific professional training courses	24 months	Click here to learn more.

*You can apply for the South Wales Police Internship programme during your second year to complete between your second and third year of study.

** You can apply for the South Wales Police Graduate programme during your third year to complete between after graduation.

Early Careers: Direct entry

You don’t have to join one of our above schemes to join the Police Service. You can use the ‘Direct Entry’ route by applying for live vacancies. We have a wide range of vacancies at a given time suitable for all entry levels. You can visit our live jobs board here.