UWTSD and South Wales Police welcomed a new cohort of Police officers

9 October 2023

UWTSD and South Wales Police welcomed a new cohort of police officers.

Bronwen Williams stands in the centre of a group of ten black-clad new police officers.

The ninety-seven new officers were made up of police apprentices, degree holders and those students who had undertaken the degree in Professional Policing prior to joining the force. The attestation is where they pledge their allegiance to the King in front of a magistrate and become attested as police officers. Ten of these students have already graduated from UWTSD and were accepted in the new intake of police officers.

Bronwen Williams, Academic Director of the University’s Blue Light Academy said:

“This is a great achievement for our graduates. It was lovely to see our students joining as both degree holders and those who have undertaken the degree in Professional Policing. “

“Over the last 5 years we have created a strong partnership with South Wales Police who have helped us to create the Degree in Professional Policing, one that is fit for purpose and prepares our students for entering the police force.”

“Since March 2019, the University has been the academic provider for the Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship (PCDA) and the Degree Holder Entry Programme (DHEP) and has welcomed four cohorts a year delivering to over 1,000 new police officers”.

“I am delighted to have been here today to see this last cohort start on our programmes”.

As a force we are committed to attracting, employing, and supporting a workforce which is representative of the communities we serve, and we continue to encourage individuals from under-represented groups and communities to consider joining us.

Chief Constable Jeremy Vaughan said:

“I am absolutely delighted that as a force we have bolstered our numbers of officers both on the frontline and in specialist roles who all work to keep the communities of South Wales safe.

“This has created opportunities for people to join South Wales Police and make a real difference in our communities.

“Police officers show pride and courage on a daily basis to keep people safe from harm and pursuing those who are intent on causing others harm.

“We have also worked really hard to ensure that our new recruits are also representative of the communities we serve, and this has been done through reaching out to encourage people to apply and helping them through the process.

“Our recruitment has attracted a wide range of skills and experiences, and this will only serve to improve our service to the public as well as bolstering our numbers in vital specialist roles such as in our Exploitation Team and Missing Person Teams.”

UWTSD was one of the first universities in Wales to collaborate with police forces to deliver the two new programmes under the new Police Education Qualifications Framework (PEQF):

Working in collaboration with South Wales, the University is delivering these programmes to student officers through the Blue Light Academy, a centre for excellence to deliver a new professional framework for the training of emergency officers and staff.

Training for the South Wales Police recruits is split between core police officer training by Gwent and South Wales Staff at training locations in Bridgend and Cwmbran, in partnership with the University to develop, assess and accredit the qualifications element of their studies.

The Degree Holder Entry Programme (DHEP) forms part of the PEQF and is a two-year graduate diploma. The PEQF aims to ensure consistent practice in terms of the implementation, assessment, and accreditation of initial police training across the 43 forces in England and Wales.

The Graduate diploma covers the core policing practice that officers will need in order to achieve independent patrol status within their first year of employment and consists of work-based learning modules that are supported by off-the-job learning to achieve full occupational competency at the end of the second year.

The collaboration between UWTSD and police forces, in direct response to new guidelines issued by the College of Policing, was created four years ago to co-deliver a Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship and a Graduate Diploma in Professional Police Practice. The University is also delivering the new pre-join degree in Professional Policing, designed to raise the standards and professionalise policing.

UWTSD has a collaborative internal team from the Institute of Management and Health, comprising the Public Services Portfolio, Wales Academy of Professional Practice and Applied Research and Apprenticeship Development teams working in partnership with South Wales force to deliver the apprenticeship degree and postgraduate diploma in Professional Police Practice.