The cost of training and assessing each police apprentice will be up to £24,000.

The government has set the level of training and assessment that can accessed for the individuals at that amount.

The College of Policing originally wanted forces to be able to spend £27,000 on the new officers.

Money used for the scheme comes from the apprenticeship levy, amounting to one per cent of their wage bill, that forces have paid since last year.

Four East Midlands forces hope to take on recruits through the scheme from September.

Recruits who have A levels will become PCs and then earn a degree in professional policing after three years of service.

Alongside their policing duties the apprentices must complete projects such as evaluations of specialist areas like response or roads policing. These will be marked by a university.

An initial assessment by the government said the constabularies should only access a maximum of £21,000 per recruit at first, but this has now been put up to the second highest level - £24,000. 

They can spend extra money on the training if they wish, but it won't come from the apprenticeship levy they have already paid into.

A College spokesman said: “An activity costing submission for the Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship (PCDA) was made to the Institute of Apprenticeships. They in turn made a recommendation to the Department for Education.

“The College was initially allocated a banding of up to £21,000. This was successfully appealed and the PCDA was allocated a banding of up to £24,000.”

Chief constables hope to pay apprentices a starting salary of £18,000 per year but this is subject to confirmation from the police remuneration review body.

The body was meant to send its pay recommendations for all officers, including apprentices, to the Home Office by the end of last month. No announcements have been made yet.

Lord Bernard Hogan-Howe this week softened his stance on police apprenticeships.

He previously called for them to be scrapped but this week says he favours a five-year break from the levy for the service.

The former Met Commissioner told the House of Lords: “The apprenticeship levy, which I support, is 1 per cent of the police pay bill. I applaud any attempt to match the apprenticeship standards of Germany, Poland, and Switzerland, but I propose a five-year apprenticeship levy holiday for the police

“At the moment, they are recruiting in small numbers and they cannot claim the levy back for police officer training or salaries. I estimate that this takes around £150 million from police funding nationally, with little in return.

“The combined total of £500 million would pay for around another 10,000 police posts. This could make a significant difference at a time when we need most help.”