Information about the College of Policing (CoP)

What is the College of Policing?

The College of Policing (CoP) is the national professional body overseeing the consistency and standardisation of police training and education.

The College have developed the Police Education Qualification Framework (PEQF) to help standardise this and assure the public of the quality of policing skills across all forces.

Why is the College of Policing doing this?

As the national professional body CoP has developed the PEQF which will set the educational standards of police officers and staff throughout England and Wales.

The RPL initiative is part of the PEQF project and aims to support the development of individual officers and staff already working within the profession. It provides a way of recognising the skills and experience of the existing workforce, as well as providing an opportunity to develop further knowledge and fill existing knowledge gaps. The RPL process developed by CoP provides a framework for HEIs to use in accrediting previous learning and experience.

Introducing an agreed framework and a standard application form will help to bring national consistency. It also encourages officers and staff to access higher level diverse learning environments through the higher education sector.

Why are academic qualifications being promoted within policing?

The Policing Vision 2025 looks to develop the profession to help it deal with the changing and complex nature of policing today. It is recognised that standardised national qualifications will help to achieve this.

Academic study will also help promote an evidence based approach to policing, as well as helping to fill more specific knowledge gaps around emerging threats such as cybercrime. It will help individuals develop a variety of skills such as; research skills, critical thinking, analysis and evaluation. As well as reinforcing the value of seeing things from a different perspective.