Consortium chaired by Middlesex University professor wins contract to train future generations of Met Police officers

Middlesex University is proud to announce that the Police Education Consortium, in which the university is a partner, has secured a contract with the Metropolitan Police Service to deliver the Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship (PCDA) programme, supporting the education and training of approximately 300 new police recruits each year. The first cohort of student police officers begins next month.

The Consortium is a partnership between Middlesex University, Canterbury Christ Church University, University of Cumbria and University of Portsmouth, all of which have extensive experience in police education, apprenticeships and work-based learning. Since 2019, the Consortium has trained more than 3,300 police constables across four forces in the South East of England: Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire & Isle of Wight, and Thames Valley Police.

In 2024, the Consortium’s PCDA qualification was recognised as Best Apprenticeship Programme in Public Services by the Apprenticeship Guide Awards. By delivering the PCDA in partnership with the MPS, the Consortium extends its expertise to the UK’s largest policing area. The programme combines on-the-job experience with professional learning, ensuring that recruits are well equipped to meet London communities’ diverse and complex needs while maintaining the highest professional standards.

Trust in policing, essential for community safety and cohesion, has been placed at the core of the MPS’s New Met for London strategy which commits to “More Trust, Less Crime, High Standards”. Police education and training play a critical role in this mission. The PCDA will provide high-quality, practice-based education and training, equipping recruits with the knowledge, skills and behaviours needed to deliver fair, ethical, community-focused policing. Through developing reflective, evidence-informed practice, the programme supports officers to apply professional learning directly to real world policing, helping to build an outstanding local police service for London, deliver better outcomes and keep the public safe.

Alex Walsh, Metropolitan Police Service Director of Learning & Development, said: “Our new partnership with the Police Education Consortium demonstrates a step change in our approach to delivery of the Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship. 
“We welcome the expertise and experience that Consortium members will bring to the wider team. This will enable us to continue to offer new recruits joining the Met a choice of training paths, while keeping a clear focus on high quality and practical operational training that sets our newest officers up to succeed from day one”.

Find out about studying for an apprenticeship at Middlesex University.