Salary: - £53,568 - £56,208
Closing date: Friday, 20th March 2026 (23:55)
South Yorkshire Police
South Yorkshire Police - Sergeant / Detective Sergeant – March 2026
If you have the drive, vision, and qualities to become a Sergeant at South Yorkshire Police, we want to hear from you. The force is seeking internal and external applications from Officers to join South Yorkshire Police in delivering the highest quality service for members of the public.
About the role
A Sergeant is a core position within policing. It's a team leader role in the policing professional profiles. The link below will take you to the specialist role details on the College of Policing website. The Sergeant core rank profile outlines the basic requirements of the role, it should be read in conjunction with the specialist Sergeant role.
Policing professional profiles | College of Policing
Role purpose
Sergeants are the first level of line management in policing across the force. They have an important role in the effective daily supervision, guidance, and support of officers and police staff. Sergeants are responsible for developing competence within their team. This includes ensuring organisational standards are met and objectives are achieved.
This role co-ordinates and monitors policing activity to uphold the law, enable public safety and build public confidence in policing. This is done in line with legal frameworks and policy guidelines.
Key responsibilities
Key responsibility statements show the accountabilities for someone in this role. They focus on what is done, not how it is done.
- Leading a team upholding values and ethical standards. Acting with the highest level of professionalism in accordance with the law, the public interest, and professional policing practice to protect the public by preventing and detecting crime.
- Co-ordinating and controlling policing responses and investigations. Allocating resources, directing activities, managing risks, and reviewing progress to deliver an effective response which supports law enforcement and enables public safety.
- Supervising and monitoring the appropriate handling of information, intelligence and evidence. Aligning record keeping with legislation, policies and guidance which enables effective law enforcement and the initiation of criminal justice proceedings.
- Building engagement, co-ordinating and monitoring the establishment of effective relationships with communities, partners and stakeholders. Delivering an effective approach to preventing and addressing vulnerability and crime in line with the force's planned approach.
- Identifying and implementing opportunities for change and innovation to drive continuous improvement in policing. Applying critical thinking to identify solutions to problems in line with evidence-based practice within own area of responsibility.
- Leading, motivating, developing, and engaging a team. Supporting and enabling continuing professional development through regular review conversations. Discussing and agreeing goals and standards and giving timely, specific and constructive feedback. Enabling identification and support for career planning and high-performance.
- Leading and fostering an inclusive workplace culture. Role modelling good practice that demonstrates fairness, respect, integrity and accountability. Using reflection and feedback to develop and enhance leadership skills and performance. Developing these skills to enable successful policing.
- Monitoring pressures faced by team members, encourage personal reflection. Supporting team members to recognise and address their wellbeing needs to ensure the delivery of an effective policing response.
- Providing specialist advice and guidance to team members to deliver responses within appropriate policies and legislation and achieving the best possible outcomes.
- Supporting the allocation of resources to enable effective service delivery and efficient use of available budgets.
- Managing performance effectively, assessing the capabilities and development needs of team members. Devising appropriate development plans to promote high performance and potential progression.
Eligibility
NPPF Step One – Suitability / Competence in Current Rank:
The purpose of this step is to ensure candidates are eligible to enter the promotion process. This means establishing a candidate is competent in their current rank and has:
Completed two years’ service as a PC/DC (or three years’ service in the case of the police constable degree apprenticeship (PCDA) programme) and have completed their probationary period.
Demonstrated competence in that rank through their performance and development as confirmed by their line manager through the application process.
No live written improvement notices issued under the Police (Performance) Regulations 2020 or reduction in rank under those procedures in the previous 12 months, beginning with the date of the notice.
No live written warning, final written warning or extended final written warning issued under the Police (Conduct) Regulations 2020.
Adhered to the attendance management policy, taking full account of Police Advisory Board guidance on attendance management.
National police promotion framework (NPPF) | College of Policing
Application:
Step 1: CVF Document & Support Sign Off
Applicants are required to download the CVF document (link below) and provide responses to the two CVF based questions.
Candidates will also need to have written Line Manager comments and sign off from their Superintendent.
Responses to the two questions will be assessed against the Competency and Values Framework (CVF) and scored one to five, successful applications will need to meet the pass mark of three on both questions to be shortlisted.
Note: this form must be uploaded to your ORACLE application for your application to be considered.
To access the CVF document, please click here
Step 2: Online Application via ORACLE
All candidates will be required to complete their application via ORACLE. You will complete the application questions on ORACLE and must upload the CVF document to your application.
Closing date: Friday, 20th March 2026 (23:55)
Presentation and Interview:
Interviews will commence Monday 13th April and run for 3 weeks.
Panels will be chaired by the Superintendent supported by a Chief Inspector.
Further information:
The below link provides further information about working for South Yorkshire Police in the role of Sergeant.
SYP is running the 2026 Sergeants promotion process with deployment expected from May 2026 onwards.
These include detective and uniformed postings across South Yorkshire. If you are successful at interview, please expect to be posted in accordance with force demand. Consideration will be given to any restrictions on location of deployment where possible, however filling vacancies based on force demand is a priority.
After we have met the current force demand, we may utilise a select list to have a pool of candidates who meet the benchmark to be promoted to Sergeant rank and will be posted later.
Information Events:
You may be interested in attending one of our online information events, to help with your preparation for the process on the following dates:
- Thursday 5th March
- Tuesday 10th March
Assessment Method table
Assessment method | What is assessed | Purpose of the assessment |
Application | -Effective performance and operationally credible in current rank -Developed and prepared for the next rank -A positive role model -Advocate for the values of policing -Aptitude to lead and inspire others | What you have done |
Presentation & Interview | Values or Competencies (level 2) from the CVF. | What you can do
What you could do and what you have done
|
Key Dates
Please note that these dates may be subject to change due to assessor availability and/or operational matters that are out of our control.
We will aim to update candidates throughout the process via email with expected key dates/decisions.
Activity | Date |
Advert Live and Application Pack Available | 2nd March |
Application Form Closing Date | 20th March |
Results Communicated / Invite to self-service interview on ORACLE | 7th April onwards |
Interview Dates | 13th April – 1st May |
Results Communicated | Early May |
Deployment Expected | May onwards |
Email: promotions@southyorks.pnn.police.uk
South Yorkshire is a culturally diverse area and to ensure that our service is fully representative of the communities we serve we welcome applications from all under-represented groups and individuals wishing to work part time. positiveaction@southyorks.pnn.police.uk
