![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2026\/02\/apprenticeships190924.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nVariety \u2013 no two days feel the same. You might be writing coursework, reflecting on your experiences one day, and the next you\u2019re 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One Myth to bust<\/h2>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2026\/02\/long-road.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nIt\u2019s a long road to becoming a police officer. That\u2019s definitely not been my experience. Day one, its impressed upon you that you\u2019re an officer \u2013 with the accountability and responsibility that comes with it. The expectations are rightly high even as you learn the basics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Day in the life<\/h2>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2026\/02\/pressure.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nThere\u2019s 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\u2019ll work collisions, assaults, thefts, and anything else that you\u2019re thrown at and whether you\u2019re with your tutor (in the early days) or out on your own, you\u2019re constantly applying what you\u2019ve learned to some really chaotic situations. You may never have experienced real conflict before, but you\u2019ll 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\u2019re not on shift and back in an academic cycle the pressure doesn\u2019t lessen. Sure, you may not be in harm\u2019s way, but you\u2019ll have assignments and deadlines that keep the pressure on. It\u2019s so important to find ways of balancing it all, managing that stress, but it\u2019s worth it. It really is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Top 3 learning moments<\/h2>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2026\/02\/reflection-1.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nReflective 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\u2019s 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\u2019ll need that every day you\u2019re on duty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keep de-escalating. Find new ways to try to calm a situation. Even if you\u2019ve tried, even if you\u2019re repeating yourself, even while you\u2019re having to physically intervene just keep trying to calm them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Theory and Practice: it\u2019s fair to say that some models you look at in university don\u2019t quite land cleanly out in the world. Policing is messy and chaotic and you\u2019ll 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\u2019ll quickly find yourself building better ways of approaching problems that come up again and again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Challenges<\/h2>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2026\/02\/workload.png\")
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nThe 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Advice for applicants<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Get comfortable with planning your work in advance \u2013 even on district. If you have investigations, you\u2019re 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\u2019s 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 \u2013 it\u2019ll save you a headache later as you try to catch up and the radio\u2019s calling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/a> and the Police degree apprenticeship<\/a> route.<\/p>\n\n\n\nEditorial team<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nPaul Williamson (Editor-in-Chief); Claudia McCready (Lecturer); Claire Bowers (Senior Lecturer); Eve Smietanko (Joint Programme Leader & Senior Lecturer) and Ian Lowe (Senior Lecturer).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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 … Continue reading “National Apprenticeship Week”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":82,"featured_media":1751,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":79,"footnotes":""},"categories":[79,147],"tags":[160,10,161,14,3,11,73,5],"class_list":["post-1749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-policing","category-policing-policing","tag-naw2026","tag-avon-somerset-police","tag-learning","tag-pcda","tag-policing","tag-reflection","tag-skills","tag-uwe-bristol"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/82"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1749"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1749\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1761,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1749\/revisions\/1761"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nIt\u2019s a long road to becoming a police officer. That\u2019s definitely not been my experience. Day one, its impressed upon you that you\u2019re an officer \u2013 with the accountability and responsibility that comes with it. The expectations are rightly high even as you learn the basics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Day in the life<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nThere\u2019s 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\u2019ll work collisions, assaults, thefts, and anything else that you\u2019re thrown at and whether you\u2019re with your tutor (in the early days) or out on your own, you\u2019re constantly applying what you\u2019ve learned to some really chaotic situations. You may never have experienced real conflict before, but you\u2019ll 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\u2019re not on shift and back in an academic cycle the pressure doesn\u2019t lessen. Sure, you may not be in harm\u2019s way, but you\u2019ll have assignments and deadlines that keep the pressure on. It\u2019s so important to find ways of balancing it all, managing that stress, but it\u2019s worth it. It really is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Top 3 learning moments<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nReflective 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\u2019s 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\u2019ll need that every day you\u2019re on duty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keep de-escalating. Find new ways to try to calm a situation. Even if you\u2019ve tried, even if you\u2019re repeating yourself, even while you\u2019re having to physically intervene just keep trying to calm them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Theory and Practice: it\u2019s fair to say that some models you look at in university don\u2019t quite land cleanly out in the world. Policing is messy and chaotic and you\u2019ll 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\u2019ll quickly find yourself building better ways of approaching problems that come up again and again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Challenges<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nThe 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Advice for applicants<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Get comfortable with planning your work in advance \u2013 even on district. If you have investigations, you\u2019re 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\u2019s 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 \u2013 it\u2019ll save you a headache later as you try to catch up and the radio\u2019s calling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/a> and the Police degree apprenticeship<\/a> route.<\/p>\n\n\n\nEditorial team<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nPaul Williamson (Editor-in-Chief); Claudia McCready (Lecturer); Claire Bowers (Senior Lecturer); Eve Smietanko (Joint Programme Leader & Senior Lecturer) and Ian Lowe (Senior Lecturer).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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 … Continue reading “National Apprenticeship Week”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":82,"featured_media":1751,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":79,"footnotes":""},"categories":[79,147],"tags":[160,10,161,14,3,11,73,5],"class_list":["post-1749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-policing","category-policing-policing","tag-naw2026","tag-avon-somerset-police","tag-learning","tag-pcda","tag-policing","tag-reflection","tag-skills","tag-uwe-bristol"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/82"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1749"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1749\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1761,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1749\/revisions\/1761"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nThere\u2019s 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\u2019ll work collisions, assaults, thefts, and anything else that you\u2019re thrown at and whether you\u2019re with your tutor (in the early days) or out on your own, you\u2019re constantly applying what you\u2019ve learned to some really chaotic situations. You may never have experienced real conflict before, but you\u2019ll 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\u2019re not on shift and back in an academic cycle the pressure doesn\u2019t lessen. Sure, you may not be in harm\u2019s way, but you\u2019ll have assignments and deadlines that keep the pressure on. It\u2019s so important to find ways of balancing it all, managing that stress, but it\u2019s worth it. It really is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Top 3 learning moments<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nReflective 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\u2019s 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\u2019ll need that every day you\u2019re on duty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keep de-escalating. Find new ways to try to calm a situation. Even if you\u2019ve tried, even if you\u2019re repeating yourself, even while you\u2019re having to physically intervene just keep trying to calm them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Theory and Practice: it\u2019s fair to say that some models you look at in university don\u2019t quite land cleanly out in the world. Policing is messy and chaotic and you\u2019ll 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\u2019ll quickly find yourself building better ways of approaching problems that come up again and again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Challenges<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nThe 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Advice for applicants<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Get comfortable with planning your work in advance \u2013 even on district. If you have investigations, you\u2019re 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\u2019s 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 \u2013 it\u2019ll save you a headache later as you try to catch up and the radio\u2019s calling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/a> and the Police degree apprenticeship<\/a> route.<\/p>\n\n\n\nEditorial team<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nPaul Williamson (Editor-in-Chief); Claudia McCready (Lecturer); Claire Bowers (Senior Lecturer); Eve Smietanko (Joint Programme Leader & Senior Lecturer) and Ian Lowe (Senior Lecturer).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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 … Continue reading “National Apprenticeship Week”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":82,"featured_media":1751,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":79,"footnotes":""},"categories":[79,147],"tags":[160,10,161,14,3,11,73,5],"class_list":["post-1749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-policing","category-policing-policing","tag-naw2026","tag-avon-somerset-police","tag-learning","tag-pcda","tag-policing","tag-reflection","tag-skills","tag-uwe-bristol"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/82"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1749"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1749\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1761,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1749\/revisions\/1761"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nReflective 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\u2019s 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\u2019ll need that every day you\u2019re on duty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keep de-escalating. Find new ways to try to calm a situation. Even if you\u2019ve tried, even if you\u2019re repeating yourself, even while you\u2019re having to physically intervene just keep trying to calm them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Theory and Practice: it\u2019s fair to say that some models you look at in university don\u2019t quite land cleanly out in the world. Policing is messy and chaotic and you\u2019ll 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\u2019ll quickly find yourself building better ways of approaching problems that come up again and again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Challenges<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nThe 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Advice for applicants<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Get comfortable with planning your work in advance \u2013 even on district. If you have investigations, you\u2019re 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\u2019s 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 \u2013 it\u2019ll save you a headache later as you try to catch up and the radio\u2019s calling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/a> and the Police degree apprenticeship<\/a> route.<\/p>\n\n\n\nEditorial team<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nPaul Williamson (Editor-in-Chief); Claudia McCready (Lecturer); Claire Bowers (Senior Lecturer); Eve Smietanko (Joint Programme Leader & Senior Lecturer) and Ian Lowe (Senior Lecturer).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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 … Continue reading “National Apprenticeship Week”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":82,"featured_media":1751,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":79,"footnotes":""},"categories":[79,147],"tags":[160,10,161,14,3,11,73,5],"class_list":["post-1749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-policing","category-policing-policing","tag-naw2026","tag-avon-somerset-police","tag-learning","tag-pcda","tag-policing","tag-reflection","tag-skills","tag-uwe-bristol"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/82"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1749"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1749\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1761,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1749\/revisions\/1761"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\nThe 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Advice for applicants<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Get comfortable with planning your work in advance \u2013 even on district. If you have investigations, you\u2019re 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\u2019s 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 \u2013 it\u2019ll save you a headache later as you try to catch up and the radio\u2019s calling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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<\/a> and the Police degree apprenticeship<\/a> route.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Paul Williamson (Editor-in-Chief); Claudia McCready (Lecturer); Claire Bowers (Senior Lecturer); Eve Smietanko (Joint Programme Leader & Senior Lecturer) and Ian Lowe (Senior Lecturer).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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 … Continue reading “National Apprenticeship Week”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":82,"featured_media":1751,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wds_primary_category":79,"footnotes":""},"categories":[79,147],"tags":[160,10,161,14,3,11,73,5],"class_list":["post-1749","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-policing","category-policing-policing","tag-naw2026","tag-avon-somerset-police","tag-learning","tag-pcda","tag-policing","tag-reflection","tag-skills","tag-uwe-bristol"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1749","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/82"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1749"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1749\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1761,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1749\/revisions\/1761"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1751"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1749"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1749"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.uwe.ac.uk\/policing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1749"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Editorial team<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n