Police Education Consortium, involving University of Cumbria, secures new partnership with Thames Valley Police

University of Cumbria is one of four universities – together with Canterbury Christ Church, Middlesex and Portsmouth – that make up the PEC. 

TVP recently announced an exciting new partnership with the PEC to deliver the Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship (PCDA).  

The new partnership will provide recruits with a comprehensive education, combining classroom based learning and practical on the job experience in a three-year training programme, in which they can earn whilst they learn. The PCDA is an ideal entry route into policing for those people who desire to become a police constable and have their learning accredited with a fully funded degree in professional policing practice.   

The first TVP PEC cohort of students started recently, in December. 

Professor Darryll Bravenboer, Chair of the Police Education Consortium, has said:  

“We are very excited to be working in partnership with Thames Valley Police as they are an employer that has a deep understanding of the value of investing in professional learning as the very best way to ensure that the needs of the communities served are met”  

Paul Bailey, Head of Learning & Development at Thames Valley Police, commented:  

“We are thrilled to embark on this journey with the Police Education Consortium. Through their proven success with other forces we are confident in our shared mission to shape the future of policing through excellence in education by delivering high-quality degrees to our student officers who choose to join us through the Police Constable Degree entry route.”  

Mandy McGachie, principal lecturer for policing at the University of Cumbria (pictured), said: “Cumbria has a deep history of delivering policing programmes and the latest partnership with Thames Valley Police further extends our policing portfolio.  

“Our extensive work over the past five years as part of the Police Education Consortium is an exemplar of the University of Cumbria’s continued commitment to policing.  Working collaboratively with several higher education institutions and police forces ensures graduates have the professional skills and knowledge they need to serve our communities whilst supporting the development of their policing careers.” 

The PEC was established in 2017, delivering PCDA and other routes into policing to recruits in Surrey, Sussex and Hampshire Constabularies. 

The four HEIs deliver programmes to different cohorts in waves. The most recent UoC cohort saw some impressive results for Surrey Police. Nine of the 15 students achieved distinctions for their final research projects and overall six gained firsts, five 2:1 and four 2:2. Our next PEC apprentices complete in June. 

In May 2024, the PEC PCDA was awarded the 2024 award for ‘Best Apprenticeship Programme in Public Services’.  

Further information about the PEC can be found at https://www.policeeducation.org.uk/ 

• University of Cumbria’s policing provision delivered by its Institute of Business, Industry and Leadership has been enhanced and developed in the last six months with a newly revalidated Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship programme in the final stages and a new Professional Policing Degree (PPD) programme due for validation in March.  These latest developments complement the university’s work within the Police Education Consortium.