PCSO recruitment process

During the eligibility process, we must check you meet all the criteria detailed below, before you can continue with your application.

You must:

• be aged 18 or over
• have been a UK resident for the past three years
• be either a British Citizen, a citizen of the EU, EAA, or Commonwealth or foreign national with indefinite leave to remain in the UK
• be in good health, mentally and physically

You must not:

• have a County Court Judgement (CCJ) which has not been satisfied
• be currently declared bankrupt and for a period of three years afterwards
• be subject to a Debt Relief Order and for a period of three years afterwards
• be a member of certain national groups, for example, British National Party, Combat 18 or National Front
• have any tattoos which would cause offence
• have been placed on the Police Barred and Advisory Lists within five years from the date of listing in the case of gross misconduct, or three years from the date of listing in the case of poor performance
• have any criminal convictions or cautions (minor offences will be considered)

If you are successful at the eligibility stage, we will ask you to complete an online application form.

You will need to fill in your personal details, employment history and references.

Once we have received your completed application form, we will invite you to attend a Familiarisation Event.

The purpose of this compulsory event is to provide you with further information on the learning programme, the process of becoming a PCSO and to give you an opportunity to hear from our staff what it is like working as a PCSO in Avon and Somerset.

Upon successful attendance at a Familiarisation Event you will be invited for an interview to assess your suitability.

If you are successful at your assessment you will be invited to complete a number of pre-employment checks at Police Headquarters, Portishead.

These will include:

• a medical appointment
• biometrics vetting (fingerprints and DNA samples)
• a fitness test
• security vetting checks
• substance misuse test

We will also process your police vetting, financial and social media checks and references.

Fitness test
You will complete a bleep test, which consists of running between two points along a 15 metre distance, in time with a series of bleeps.

Medical and eyesight checks
You will complete a medical questionnaire and attend a health assessment by our occupational health team. You will have your eyes checked by an optician as part of your assessment and undertake a hearing test.

Drug test
You need to undertake drug screening by providing a hair sample.

Biometrics
You will provide fingerprints, a DNA sample and checks will be made against national databases. If you are successfully appointed, your DNA profiles and fingerprints will be held on the Police Elimination Database.

If you refuse to give a sample, we will not be able to proceed with your application. If you are not appointed, all copies and records will be destroyed.

Once all of the pre-appointment checks have been successfully completed, you will receive a final offer of appointment and we will allocated you a place on the next available training course.

Once you have reached this stage we will start to communicate with you more frequently so that you are prepared for your first day as a PCSO and the start of your exciting career with Avon and Somerset Police.