MET Police careers
THROUGH POLICE NOW
MET POLICE CAREERS THROUGH POLICE NOW
We need bright, determined graduates to make our 32 boroughs within greater London feel safe again. This is your chance to change the story with a Met Police job.
By joining the Metropolitan Police through Police Now’s National Graduate Programme, you’ll have full ownership and responsibility to effect positive change as you train on-the-job to become a neighbourhood police officer in London.
You’ll engage with communities to build trust and confidence and to protect the most vulnerable. You’ll see the bigger picture and create solutions that allow communities to flourish. You will witness the impact of your work from day one.
Met police careers: Not your average 9-5
We need leaders who can work with local authority partners, businesses and community organisations in fast-paced, ever-changing environments. We want graduates who don’t want a desk job or an average 9-5. We want people who can build relationships and trust in communities, to make every neighbourhood feel safe.
Our award-winning two-year National Graduate Leadership Programme gives you the opportunity to use your degree, your background and your ideas in a role that improves the quality of life for communities in London.
Police Now are recognised for our immersive selection process and high-quality training and development. Our national graduate programme gives you:
- A full-time position with the Metropolitan Police and a starting salary of £36,775+
- Career progression and promotion opportunities
- Leadership development training
- Access to coaching support and mentorship
- A national peer network of over 2,000 working in communities across England and Wale
- Secondment opportunities inside and outside policing in your second year with different partner organisations, such as the Home Office
Rise through the ranks, enhance your leadership skills, develop and inspire others and help shape the future of the world around you.
If you’re ready to solve long-term problems and build a graduate career with progression and purpose, join us. Change the story.
Progress quickly in your Met Police Career
Police Now graduates strive for promotion, and we support you on this journey through our Frontline Leadership Programme, developed to help you progress to the next rank as soon as you complete the programme, should you want to, or at any point in your policing career. This means you’ll continue your leadership journey at a fast pace, navigating the promotion process while building your skills and expertise.
Upile joined Police Now in 2016 and has been changing lives ever since.
In six short years, he has:
- Been promoted twice to Detective Sergeant.
- Worked on secondments in other industries.
- Acts on several boards where his voice and ideas matter.
- Won multiple awards for his work.
- Helped his community rank as the UK’s safest place to live.
What to expect from Police Now’s programme with the Met
Your day-to-day role as a neighbourhood police officer will help find solutions and work to support and protect members of the community.
You’ll work with them to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour. Your impact on their future will shape communities for the better.
Met Police career growth
This role isn’t about showing up to the scene of crime, making arrests, filing reports, and doing it all again the next day. As a neighbourhood police officer, you’ll work with those around you to build relationships, understand the community and the dominant issues affecting people’s lives. You’ll make strategic and tactical plans, involving communities and working alongside partner agencies, which will change the direction of travel for people living in the most deprived communities in our society.
Our industry-leading, award-winning recruitment process assesses the exceptional qualities needed to lead change in policing. We want those who can tackle complex challenges with innovation, resilience, and compassion. We want graduates who can prioritise the people and places in greatest need. We look for leaders who can constructively disrupt the status quo to make real, systemic change – in policing and in our communities.
Our programme provides a unique opportunity to lead the future of policing and deliver our mission. You will be assigned your own Performance Development Coach (PDC), to act as your coach, support and advocate throughout the programme. They will help you to grow both personally and professionally, for you to become the best neighbourhood police officer you can be.
For leaders
Graduates choose our programmes because they want to wake up each day and know they’re making a real difference. They want a graduate scheme that gives them a pathway for career advancement, while playing an active role in improving the lives of those around them.
From a wide range of degree disciplines and backgrounds, Police Now graduates bring their diverse experiences and exceptional ability to bring new and different approaches to policing.
Police Now's secondment opportunities
Towards the end of the two-year programme, you’ll have the chance to apply for a secondment with an external organisation. You’ll spend four weeks on secondment, learning new skills that you can bring back to your neighbourhood role.
Some of the organisations we have partnered with in the past include the National Crime Agency, Counter Terrorism Policing, and the Home Office.
There may also be a chance to undertake an internal attachment, this is facilitated by your force.
"The secondment helped me understand the wider picture with regards to policing. I was also able to provide genuine frontline insight to those writing policy on neighbourhood policing - it felt like I had a real impact.”
Met Police Careers: How to Apply
University finalists and graduates with a 2:2 degree or higher can apply to become a Met Police neighbourhood police officer or detective through our national graduate scheme. Serving constables can apply for our Frontline Leadership programme.
Find everything you need to know about the application process.
- Successful applicants will be given a starting salary of £36,775+ from day one as a neighbourhood police officer
- Police now are an award-winning, Times Top 100 Graduate Employer 2023/24
- Diversity and inclusion is at the very heart of everything we do
- As a neighbourhood police officer, you'll be placed in a neighbourhood for at least two continueous years, allowing you to make a positive impact
- Different from other entry routes into policing, we help the nation’s brightest minds to become leaders who truly transform communities
- Our training is faster and more intense than other routes into policing. You have seven. weeks in our academy then you’ll be straight into policing a neighbourhood
Met Police Careers: Q&A
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Can you join the Met without a degree?
You can apply to the Met Police through alternative entry routes without a degree, however, other academic qualifications are required to be eligible:
But I’d need a degree to apply for the Police Now national graduate programme?
Yes. To apply for our two-year National Graduate Leadership Programme you must have, or be predicted to achieve, a minimum 2:2 undergraduate degree from a university in the UK, or an equivalent from a non-UK university by the programme start date. This includes distance and part-time learning. Find out more about our detailed eligibility criteria.
What qualifications do I need to be a police detective?
Before you apply, check you meet our eligibility criteria with our online guide.
Some of the key requirements you must meet include:
- Age – You must be over the age of 17 years at the time of your application.
- Residency – You’ll need to have resided in the UK continuously for the past three years, at least.
- Nationality – You can be of any nationality to apply, providing you have the status of indefinite leave to remain and work in the UK.
- Academic qualifications – You must have, or be predicted to achieve, a minimum 2:2 undergraduate degree from a university in the UK, or an equivalent from a non-UK university.
You cannot apply if you have previously attested and served as a police officer. However, you are eligible to apply if you are currently or have been a police cadet, special constable, PCSO or member of police staff for any force. You can check your eligibility here.
Are there other Police Now programmes available to serving police officers?
Yes! If you are already a serving police officer, visit our Frontline Leadership Programme page for more information.
How much do Met police officers get paid?
Learn all you need to know regarding Met Police payscales and benefits as a neighbourhood police officer.
How long is Met Police training through Police Now?
Police Now’s Met Police graduate scheme is a two-year programme.
Learn more about the structure of our National Graduate Leadership Programme.
What happens at the end of the two-year programme? Will I be offered a permanent role with the Met?
Once you successfully finish the programme and your two-year probation period, you will continue your role as a London Met neighbourhood police officer. Having been exposed to a range of challenges, you may wish to stay in your current role, apply for a lateral development opportunity, such as within a specialist unit, or you may feel you have the necessary skills and motivation to apply for promotion.
Whichever path you decide to take, support will be available to you, such as through our Frontline Leadership Programme, which prepares high potential serving police officers for promotion.
