The fifth bursary scheme has been opened by the College of Policing to help police officers and staff across England and Wales with higher education fees to study at undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

It is part of the wider campaign to upskill the police service to be able to respond to respond to new challenges such as terrorism and developments in forensics.

With more than 600 applications over the last three years for 200 bursaries, the college admitted it would be “very competitive”.   

The College said in a statement: “We are committed to supporting the continuing professional development of police officers and staff and particularly welcome applications from those working on the frontline.”

The scheme supports the full range of officers from those working towards degrees who have not studied since school, through to those taking PhDs on topics such as communication pathways in control rooms and emergency planning for counter terrorism.

The campaign features some of the officers who have benefitted including a forensic collision investigator, an acting detective inspector and a police constable whose formal education had finished at the age of 18 in Poland.

PC Maciej Matusiak joined Merseyside Police at the age of 30 and has now completed a BA in Policing Studies at Liverpool John Moores University. His dissertation research focused on domestic abuse in the Polish community and involved analysis of domestic homicide reviews of Polish nationals in the UK.

Acting Detective Inspector Dan McCarthy, from Sussex Police was able to use his on the job experience  to reduce his undergraduate degree in applied investigation from a three year programme to just one year.

Sergeant Lorna Dennison-Wilkins, also from Sussex Police, received further funding last year to continue her doctoral studies into body recovery from water. 

She said: “Progressing my research has been one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Because I have so much passion for my subject, it’s never been a stress or a chore.”

The College also said previous bursary recipients can also apply for a second round of funding to support longer programmes of study.  

Chief Constable Mike Cunningham, Chief Executive of the College of Policing said: “The scheme is open to anyone working in policing, regardless of their rank, grade or existing qualifications. To date, two thirds of bursary recipients have been constables and sergeants and a quarter were police staff.”

The deadline for applications is Monday, 6 April 2020 for funding for the academic years 2020/21 and 2021/22.

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Applications and enquiries should be sent to: bursaryscheme@college.pnn.police.uk