New Edinburgh College school partnership police course fits ‘The Bill’

Edinburgh College’s Enterprise and Commerce team is holding its first ever HNC Police Studies recruitment day this weekend, as applications to the course continue to pour in.

As the College establishes its position as only the second educational institution in Scotland to offer such an opportunity to senior high school pupils, in order to fill the limited places, a recruitment and selection day based on the Police Scotland recruitment processes will be held to identify which applicants have a possible future within the police service.

The inaugural recruitment and selection day is taking place at the College’s Sighthill Campus this Saturday (18 May).

This weekend’s event will see applicants being put through their paces with Standard Entry language testing, a competency-based written task, equality and diversity decision making, as well as a rigorous fitness test. Pupils will also hear from the Edinburgh Police Scotland Youth Volunteers co-ordinator during the event.

In partnership with instructors and current police cadets at the Police Scotland College and Forth Valley College, Edinburgh College has designed the HNC Police Studies framework to meet the needs of pupils hoping to pursue a career with Police Scotland.

Edinburgh College lecturer and course lead Sarah Lynch has worked closely with the Scottish Police College to develop a recruitment process which mirrors the requirements and procedures at Tulliallan, the Police Scotland College training site.

The course is aimed at developing the competencies required for joining the Scottish Police service, and enhancing the candidates’ opportunities of progression onto further study or employment.

S5 and S6 year pupils from across all schools in Edinburgh and this Lothians have this rare opportunity to study part-time over two years to achieve an HNC qualification in subjects which are not traditionally taught at high school.

On successful completion of the course, pupils will be given guidance towards applying to Police Scotland, a university course or another course at one of Edinburgh College’s four campuses across the capital.

Sarah said: “This is a great opportunity for pupils to enhance their learning within areas of Law, advanced Social Care and Policing – subjects which are perhaps not always readily available within secondary education.

“We want to be able to widen participation within these areas of study, and establish equity in accessing unique learning opportunities here at the College, for all senior school pupils across Edinburgh and the Lothians.”

Sarah has also collaborated with Forth Valley College – the only other college in Scotland to offer the course – in designing innovative teaching methodology to engage the young learners.

Edinburgh College Enterprise and Commerce curriculum manager Lynn Loudon said: “This exciting new school college partnership is aimed at making these subjects and opportunities accessible to all, offering pupils experiential learning which is tailored to a career with Police Scotland.

“We are in a unique position within Scotland in that we are only the College in the country to offer potential progression to Legal Services courses within our faculty on successful completion of their HNC. The partnership with Police Scotland in designing the content of the course has proven to be invaluable and we very much look forward to welcoming our new cohort of students after the summer.”

Applications for the HNC Police Studies course are still open and pupils can apply directly through the Edinburgh College website. 

For more information please contact sarah.lynch@edinburghcollege.ac.uk

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davepickering

Edinburgh reporter and photographer