To mark the NAW2026 Apprentice Wednesday theme, we are sharing another snapshot of life on the Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship (PCDA). In this blog, apprentice officer Tom Owen from our June24 cohort, reflects on the variety and pace of frontline policing, busts a common myth about the journey into the role, and explains how academic learning, reflective practice and real-world experience combine, often under pressure, to shape professional judgement. Over to Tom…
Favourite part of the role
Variety – no two days feel the same. You might be writing coursework, reflecting on your experiences one day, and the next you’re then seeing how the theory translates into practice as you juggle safety, legislation, and investigation at the scene of a roadside collision. That overlap between academic thinking and frenetic frontline policing is demanding, but it makes the PCDA feel like real professional development, not just policing with university on the side.
One Myth to bust
It’s a long road to becoming a police officer. That’s definitely not been my experience. Day one, its impressed upon you that you’re an officer – with the accountability and responsibility that comes with it. The expectations are rightly high even as you learn the basics.
Day in the life
There’s no standard day, and no easy ones either! You might be on a nine-hour shift, with no possibility of rest and no guarantee of finishing on time. During that you’ll work collisions, assaults, thefts, and anything else that you’re thrown at and whether you’re with your tutor (in the early days) or out on your own, you’re constantly applying what you’ve learned to some really chaotic situations. You may never have experienced real conflict before, but you’ll suddenly find yourself trying to remember how a complex piece of legislation fits the circumstances you find yourself in and gets you to a good outcome for the people involved. If you’re not on shift and back in an academic cycle the pressure doesn’t lessen. Sure, you may not be in harm’s way, but you’ll have assignments and deadlines that keep the pressure on. It’s so important to find ways of balancing it all, managing that stress, but it’s worth it. It really is.
Top 3 learning moments
Reflective writing helps you. It feels strange and perhaps less than relevant when you begin writing reflections as part of the apprenticeship programme. Lean into it: It’s a crucial skill. It teaches you to take a moment and breathe, to learn what you can from a situation and to recognise the things that are within (or beyond) your control. You’ll need that every day you’re on duty.
Keep de-escalating. Find new ways to try to calm a situation. Even if you’ve tried, even if you’re repeating yourself, even while you’re having to physically intervene just keep trying to calm them.
Theory and Practice: it’s fair to say that some models you look at in university don’t quite land cleanly out in the world. Policing is messy and chaotic and you’ll scratch your head trying to find the relevance of a particular model. Take the pieces of each of them that apply to a situation though and you’ll quickly find yourself building better ways of approaching problems that come up again and again.
Challenges
The hardest part of the process is workload. The University periods seem well contained, but managing your reflective practice and selecting evidence to meet competencies while being bounced from incident to incident can prove challenging. The work of response policing alone can be challenging to be honest, if somewhat expected. The best advice is to speak with your tutor and supervisor early and check in if you need to.
Advice for applicants
Get comfortable with planning your work in advance – even on district. If you have investigations, you’re managing then understand who you need to speak to, where you need to go to advance them and do it before the radio calls you to the next demand on your time. It’s fair that even the best laid plans rarely survive a busy shift but keep a record of outstanding tasks and get to them when you can – it’ll save you a headache later as you try to catch up and the radio’s calling.
Thanks to Tom for sharing such an honest and thoughtful snapshot of life on the PCDA. If you are interested to find out more, you can follow these links to #NAW2026 and the Police degree apprenticeship route.
Editorial team
Paul Williamson (Editor-in-Chief); Claudia McCready (Lecturer); Claire Bowers (Senior Lecturer); Eve Smietanko (Joint Programme Leader & Senior Lecturer) and Ian Lowe (Senior Lecturer).
