Predicting the future

#1 Northsouth

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Posted 07 November 2012 - 12:33 PM

Hi everyone.
Hope you can help me, to help my son choose the most appropriate path forward.
My son is age 15 (in school year 11. GCSE year) and has been keen to pursue a career in the police service for some time. He now has the choice of continuing on to A levels next year or doing an 'equivalent' level course.
He is very interested in doing a 2 year diploma in public services (uniformed) with the intention of following this with a foundation degree/degree in policing that also involves work as a special.
Basically the dilemma is, will successfully following the above plan increase his chances of recruitment (over A levels followed by other university course/customer based employment) or just limit his choices? I realise that he's also more likely to work hard at a course that has a clear desirable objective than one I've twisted his arm to take.
I know that at 15, he's still a naive youngster liable to change his mind but he has wanted to become a police officer for a while, despite hearing lots of reasons why it's an awful thankless job and tbh I think he'd suit the job: He has integrity, can communicate easily with all walks of life and would hate to be sat at a desk all day.
I guess my real question is, where are police force entries headed?
Is the service in a similar position to paramedics, in that there are now very few apprentice type learn on the job positions and more posts being filled from full-time paramedic university courses that incorporate placements with regional ambulance services?
Are there moves to get X% of officers educated to degree level? If so, in the current economic climate, why would the very oversubscribed police force pay to train their staff when applicants are willing to take student finance loans to be trained at university? Does anyone know the applicant to place ratios for university policing courses?
Sorry if this post is a bit rambling, but if anyone can enlighten me I'd be very grateful.

#2 SimonT

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Posted 07 November 2012 - 01:07 PM

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#3 Tim in the South

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