Special Constable Summer Course 2025

Make Summer 2025 special.

Gwent Police is offering a unique and exciting opportunity to spend 6 weeks with us from 21st July 2025 to August 30th 2025, where you will train to be a Special Constable (a volunteer police officer).

At the end of the initial training period, you will be a fully warranted police officer, with all of the powers, uniform and equipment of a regular police officer. You will work collaboratively alongside Police Constables, Detectives, Police Staff and other volunteers, with the remit of ensuring Gwent is a safe and secure place for our communities. Following training, the expectation is that you volunteer a minimum of 16 hours per month, and you can do these at times to suit you, we are very flexible as we know you have other commitments, such as study, family and/or a regular job. Please note - Applicants must be 18 by 20th July 2025 to be eligible.

What's in it for you?

Volunteering as a Special Constable will provide you with many benefits, including:

Gaining valuable work and life experience from working with expert staff and officers.
Meeting new friends and contacts, at Gwent Police we pride ourselves on having a cohesive, supportive network of officers and staff at all levels.
Learning new skills that you won’t have the opportunity to gain anywhere else, many of which you can take into any future career inside or outside of policing,
Building your confidence in speaking to the public and dealing with a wide variety of challenging situations.
Giving something back to the community, being someone who helps to protect the most vulnerable people and prevents crime.
Impressing prospective employers, being a police volunteer will look amazing on your CV, it will show that you have the tenacity, compassion and discipline to succeed.
An opportunity to really test yourself in a uniquely challenging role.
Having cost-free access to all our force gyms, accessible at any time of the day or night.
If you think a career in policing is for you, here you can gain unparalleled insight into what the role really involves and give yourself the very best chance of working towards a successful policing career.

What does the training look like?

Our Special Constable Training Programme mirrors many elements of the regular police training schedule. Over the course of the initial 6 weeks, we will train you in a mixture of classroom-based theory and gym-based practical work. During this period, we will cover topics such as:

Criminal Justice
Conducting investigations
Response policing
Counter terrorism
Personal Protective Safety Training
First Aid
Arrest procedures
Mental health
Using police communication systems
Professional Standards
Crime scene investigation
Stop and search
Public protection

The training will run from 9am – 5pm every day, on the following dates, and the whole course is mandatory:

Week	Start Date	End Date
1	Monday 21st July	Friday 25th July
2	Monday 28th July	Thursday 31st July
3	Monday 4th August	Thursday 7th August
4	Tuesday 12th August	Saturday 16th August
5	Tuesday 19th August	Saturday 23rd August
6	Tuesday 26th August	Saturday 30th August

There will be a further two blocks of training from 24th September 2025 to 16th November 2025 and 7th January 2026 to 18th February 2026, however these will be exclusively on Tuesday evenings and Saturdays only.

What happens after the six weeks training?

After the initial 6 weeks training you will be a Special Constable and you will go out, always accompanied by experienced officers, to start putting into practice what you have learned. You will conduct high-visibility foot patrols, respond to a wide variety of reported incidents and generally assist members of the public. You will play a crucial role contributing to the delivery of the policing priorities for Gwent. You will make new friends, see life from a new perspective and play a key role as a leader in our communities.

The Special Constabulary is a unique opportunity to be part of something bigger. If you join Gwent Police as a volunteer Special Constable, you’ll gain skills and experiences to last a lifetime.

What are we looking for?

No previous policing experience is required to be a Special Constable, we don’t expect you to be the finished article but we are looking for people with high potential to become outstanding officers. Some of the traits we are looking for include:

Compassion and empathy
Innovation
Willingness to learn
Strong customer-focus
Honesty and trustworthiness

How can you apply?

Click the APPLY button and follow the automated steps:

Eligibility check – this will ensure you are eligible to apply for this course/role
National sift – this is comprised of two online tests that measure your behaviours and your response to policing situations (no previous experience is needed!). If you fail the sift you will not be able to resit for 3 months and can only sit it twice in a rolling 12 month period.
Application form – your personal details

If you pass the national sift and satisfy the eligibility requirements, you will be invited to attend an interview. If you are successful at interview stage, you will have to attend the following assessments: fitness test; drugs and biometric tests; medical test (dates yet to be released).

The Competency and Values Framework is also available to download, this will give you an overview of the attributes and values that will be assessed at interview stage:

Competency and values framework (CVF) | College of Policing

Please note that there are several other sources of information on policing, the Special Constabulary, and Gwent Police priorities, which are available online for further reading.

Any queries please e-mail centralrecruitment@gwent.police.uk