Do you need a degree to become a police officer?

No, and Join the Police says so directly. Of the six routes it sets out, four are for people who already hold a degree, the police constable degree apprenticeship gets you one while you work, and the police constable entry programme involves no degree study during probation at all. Those last two ask for a Level 3 qualification, which is two A levels or equivalent in at least two subjects, or relevant experience and training the force accepts as equivalent. Each force decides which routes it offers.

What does a new police constable take home in 2026/27?

Pay point 1 is £31,164 on the scale awaiting the determination that implements the 3.5% award from 1 September 2026. After the 12.88% police pension contribution of £4,014, Income Tax of £2,916 and National Insurance of £1,488, that leaves £22,747 a year, or £1,896 a month. The police pension is a net pay arrangement, so the contribution cuts your Income Tax but not your National Insurance.

Which route into policing avoids student debt?

Every route except the pre-join degree. The degree in professional policing is the one Join the Police describes as self-funded, and you take it at university before you apply, so it is the only way in that can arrive with a tuition fee loan attached. At pay point 1 a Plan 5 loan takes £555 a year, about £46 a month, off the same take-home, and it keeps taking it every year you are in the job.

Why is the police pension contribution so large?

Because the rates are high and banded. The 2026 amendment regulations set three bands of relevant pay, each with a full rate and a lower reduced rate; the full rates, which is what a member in the standard scheme pays, are £37,035 or less at 12.88%, more than £37,035 but less than £79,588 at 13.88% and £79,588 or more at 14.22%. At constable pay point 1 that is £4,014, more than the £2,916 of Income Tax at the same salary. You get automatic Income Tax relief on it, but no National Insurance relief, and the band is set by your actual pay rather than the full-time equivalent.

Is police pay going up in September 2026?

Yes. The Home Secretary awarded 3.5% to all ranks and pay points from 1 September 2026, in written statement HCWS264 on 15 July 2026. That is less than the 3.9% the Police Remuneration Review Body had recommended. The revised pay points have not been published yet, so the table above shows the scale from 1 September 2025, awaiting the determination that implements the 3.5% award from 1 September 2026.

When does a police officer start paying 40% tax?

Later than the salary suggests, because the pension comes off first. Sergeant pay point 2 is £53,568, above the £50,270 higher-rate threshold, but the 13.88% contribution is deducted before Income Tax and leaves £46,133 to be taxed, so no part of it is taxed at 40%. Basic pay has to reach £58,373 on this contribution rate before any of it is, and inspector pay point 0 at £63,768 is the first rung here that gets there: £1,859 of its £9,399 Income Tax. National Insurance is a separate question, and it does drop to 2% on gross pay above £50,270.

How to become a police officer in England and Wales 2026/27

Five of the six ways into policing put you on the payroll from the day you join. The sixth is a degree you fund yourself before you apply, so it arrives with Plan 5 debt attached and starts on exactly the same pay point.

How do you become a police officer in England and Wales?

Join the Police, the Home Office recruitment site for forces in England and Wales, sets out six routes to becoming a constable, alongside separate rejoiner and Special Constable pages: the three-year police constable degree apprenticeship, the two-year police constable entry programme, the two-year degree holder entry programme, the two-year detective degree holder entry programme, the two-year Police Now graduate programmes, and the three-year degree in professional policing you fund yourself at university before applying. On every route but that last one you are paid from the outset, and the site puts the basic starting salary at £31,164. That is £22,747 a year (£1,896 a month) after Income Tax of £2,916, National Insurance of £1,488 and the 12.88% police pension contribution of £4,014.

Routes in, and what each one costs

There is no register of police officers. You are appointed by the force you apply to and attested as a constable by making the declaration set out in Schedule 4 to the Police Act 1996. The routes below are the ways in listed by Join the Police, and each force decides which of them it offers.

Route	Duration	Cost to you	Funding
Police constable degree apprenticeship (PCDA)	Normally three years, with the option to specialise in the third year. Practical on-the-job learning alongside classroom study with a partner university.	Nothing. Join the Police says you are a police officer from your first day, your chosen force fully funds the degree, and you receive a salary throughout the whole programme.	Entry needs a Level 3 qualification, which is two A levels or equivalent, in at least two subjects, or relevant experience and training a force accepts as equivalent. You finish with a Level 6 Degree in Professional Policing Practice.
Police constable entry programme (PCEP)	Two-year training programme, available to all forces since April 2024. You are confirmed in post as a police constable on successful completion of your probation.	No course fee is stated, and there is no degree to study for during probation.	Entry needs an A level or equivalent in at least two subjects, or relevant experience and training a force accepts as equivalent to a Level 3 qualification.
Degree holder entry programme (DHEP)	Two-year work-based training programme supported by off-the-job learning, for people who already hold a degree in any subject.	No course fee is stated. The Level 6 Graduate Diploma in Professional Policing Practice comes with the job, once you have completed your probation.	You focus on a specialist area of study from investigation, intelligence, community, roads or response policing. The degree you already hold may carry Plan 5 debt, which the table below prices.
Detective degree holder entry programme	Two years, and a more intense programme than the DHEP: the same Level 6 Graduate Diploma, with learning biased towards investigation.	No course fee is stated. You also have to pass the National Investigators Examination and meet the PIP2 assessment criteria to become an accredited detective.	Some forces run a fast track detective pathway with a period in uniform first, others a direct entry detective pathway that starts in an investigation role. Ask the force you are applying to which it offers.
Police Now graduate programmes	Two years, either the National Graduate Leadership Programme for neighbourhood policing or the National Detective Programme, which opens with 13 weeks of detective academy training and eight weeks in uniform.	No course fee is stated. Police Now runs the programmes and you join a force as an officer.	A Police Now performance and development coach supports you alongside your force line manager. Graduates only.
Pre-join degree in professional policing	A three-year full-time degree taken at university before you apply to a force, which you then do separately.	Tuition fees, because this is a university degree taken before applying rather than training a force pays for. Join the Police states the three-year duration and that the degree carries no guarantee of an offer; it says nothing about who pays, and the fee follows from it being a pre-join qualification. That makes it the only route that puts a tuition fee loan and its Plan 5 repayments between you and the same starting pay point.	The degree is licenced and offered by a set list of universities. Some forces run an entry programme specifically for people who hold it, but completing the degree does not guarantee an offer: each force sets its own entry requirements, recruitment process and selection policy.

The pay ladder, and what it actually pays

Published police pay points in force, England and Wales, with take-home computed through the same engine as our calculators. The pension is a net pay arrangement: the contribution comes off before Income Tax, so it reduces your tax bill, but National Insurance is still charged on the full gross. The contribution rate is banded, so it changes as you climb.

Rung	Gross	Pension	Income Tax	NI	Net a year	Net a month
Constable, pay point 1	£31,164	12.88% (£4,014)	£2,916	£1,488	£22,747	£1,896
Constable, pay point 2	£32,472	12.88% (£4,182)	£3,144	£1,592	£23,554	£1,963
Constable, pay point 3	£33,789	12.88% (£4,352)	£3,373	£1,698	£24,366	£2,031
Constable, pay point 4	£35,106	12.88% (£4,522)	£3,603	£1,803	£25,179	£2,098
Constable, pay point 5	£37,737	13.88% (£5,238)	£3,986	£2,013	£26,500	£2,208
Constable, pay point 6	£43,038	13.88% (£5,974)	£4,899	£2,437	£29,728	£2,477
Constable, pay point 7	£50,256	13.88% (£6,976)	£6,142	£3,015	£34,123	£2,844
Sergeant, pay point 2	£53,568	13.88% (£7,435)	£6,713	£3,082	£36,338	£3,028
Sergeant, pay point 3	£54,660	13.88% (£7,587)	£6,901	£3,104	£37,069	£3,089
Sergeant, pay point 4	£56,208	13.88% (£7,802)	£7,167	£3,135	£38,104	£3,175
Inspector, pay point 0	£63,768	13.88% (£8,851)	£9,399	£3,286	£42,232	£3,519
Inspector, pay point 1	£65,505	13.88% (£9,092)	£9,997	£3,321	£43,095	£3,591
Inspector, pay point 2	£67,236	13.88% (£9,332)	£10,593	£3,355	£43,955	£3,663
Inspector, pay point 3	£68,982	13.88% (£9,575)	£11,195	£3,390	£44,822	£3,735

Constable, pay point 1: Where new constables join, though a chief officer may start joiners on point 2 to meet local recruitment needs. Look at what the police pension costs here: £4,014, which is more than the £2,916 of Income Tax.
Constable, pay point 5: The police pension tier changes between points 4 and 5. The regulations set three bands of relevant pay: £37,035 or less at 12.88%, more than £37,035 but less than £79,588 at 13.88% and £79,588 or more at 14.22%. Crossing into the second one means part of this rise goes into the pension rather than into your pay.
Constable, pay point 7: The top of the constable scale stops just short of the £50,270 higher-rate threshold, and the pension puts it further away still: the 13.88% contribution leaves £43,280 to be taxed, so no 40% tax is due on basic pay here.
Sergeant, pay point 2: The sergeant scale starts at point 2, as the Police Remuneration Review Body publishes it. Gross pay is over the £50,270 higher-rate threshold at this rank, and still none of it is taxed at 40%: the contribution comes off before Income Tax and leaves £46,133 taxable.
Inspector, pay point 0: Inspectors in the London forces sit on a separate, higher scale. This is also the first rung on this ladder where any pay is taxed at 40%: £1,859 of the £9,399 Income Tax bill. Note the shape of the deductions around it, though. National Insurance is only £3,286, because NI drops to 2% above the upper earnings limit just as Income Tax steps up.

Plan 5 on top, if the degree was the way in

The degree route that gets you qualified is also what creates the loan. Plan 5 repayments are 9% of everything above £25,000, charged on the same earnings as National Insurance - so the pension contribution above does not reduce them. Take the apprenticeship route instead and this table is zero.

Rung	Plan 5 a year	Plan 5 a month	Net a year after Plan 5
Constable, pay point 1	£555	£46	£22,192
Constable, pay point 2	£672	£56	£22,881
Constable, pay point 3	£791	£66	£23,575
Constable, pay point 4	£910	£76	£24,269
Constable, pay point 5	£1,146	£96	£25,354
Constable, pay point 6	£1,623	£135	£28,105
Constable, pay point 7	£2,273	£189	£31,850
Sergeant, pay point 2	£2,571	£214	£33,767
Sergeant, pay point 3	£2,669	£222	£34,399
Sergeant, pay point 4	£2,809	£234	£35,296
Inspector, pay point 0	£3,489	£291	£38,743
Inspector, pay point 1	£3,645	£304	£39,450
Inspector, pay point 2	£3,801	£317	£40,154
Inspector, pay point 3	£3,958	£330	£40,864

Frequently asked questions

Do you need a degree to become a police officer?: No, and Join the Police says so directly. Of the six routes it sets out, four are for people who already hold a degree, the police constable degree apprenticeship gets you one while you work, and the police constable entry programme involves no degree study during probation at all. Those last two ask for a Level 3 qualification, which is two A levels or equivalent in at least two subjects, or relevant experience and training the force accepts as equivalent. Each force decides which routes it offers.
What does a new police constable take home in 2026/27?: Pay point 1 is £31,164 on the scale awaiting the determination that implements the 3.5% award from 1 September 2026. After the 12.88% police pension contribution of £4,014, Income Tax of £2,916 and National Insurance of £1,488, that leaves £22,747 a year, or £1,896 a month. The police pension is a net pay arrangement, so the contribution cuts your Income Tax but not your National Insurance.
Which route into policing avoids student debt?: Every route except the pre-join degree. The degree in professional policing is the one Join the Police describes as self-funded, and you take it at university before you apply, so it is the only way in that can arrive with a tuition fee loan attached. At pay point 1 a Plan 5 loan takes £555 a year, about £46 a month, off the same take-home, and it keeps taking it every year you are in the job.
Why is the police pension contribution so large?: Because the rates are high and banded. The 2026 amendment regulations set three bands of relevant pay, each with a full rate and a lower reduced rate; the full rates, which is what a member in the standard scheme pays, are £37,035 or less at 12.88%, more than £37,035 but less than £79,588 at 13.88% and £79,588 or more at 14.22%. At constable pay point 1 that is £4,014, more than the £2,916 of Income Tax at the same salary. You get automatic Income Tax relief on it, but no National Insurance relief, and the band is set by your actual pay rather than the full-time equivalent.
Is police pay going up in September 2026?: Yes. The Home Secretary awarded 3.5% to all ranks and pay points from 1 September 2026, in written statement HCWS264 on 15 July 2026. That is less than the 3.9% the Police Remuneration Review Body had recommended. The revised pay points have not been published yet, so the table above shows the scale from 1 September 2025, awaiting the determination that implements the 3.5% award from 1 September 2026.
When does a police officer start paying 40% tax?: Later than the salary suggests, because the pension comes off first. Sergeant pay point 2 is £53,568, above the £50,270 higher-rate threshold, but the 13.88% contribution is deducted before Income Tax and leaves £46,133 to be taxed, so no part of it is taxed at 40%. Basic pay has to reach £58,373 on this contribution rate before any of it is, and inspector pay point 0 at £63,768 is the first rung here that gets there: £1,859 of its £9,399 Income Tax. National Insurance is a separate question, and it does drop to 2% on gross pay above £50,270.

Routes in, and what each one costs

The pay ladder, and what it actually pays

Plan 5 on top, if the degree was the way in

Frequently asked questions

Pay for each rung in detail

Work it out for your own numbers

Sources