---
title: "The Police (Amendment) (Recruitment Standards) Regulations 2026"
id: c603a425-fe55-409c-9f20-40569b4520e0
authority: uk
place: "United Kingdom"
applies_also_from: []
kind: regulation
in_force: true
publisher_url: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/154
attribution: "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
solon_url: https://solon.orangecat.ch/law/c603a425-fe55-409c-9f20-40569b4520e0
language: en
in_force_from: 2026-03-17
date_basis: publisher
status: consolidated
source_url: https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2026/154/data.xml
read_on: 2026-11-10
sha256: e6512a5d22af45f37d656f33f0c8f8663212e98dfb4ed2316a36889e4b9548d5
provisions: 5
---

# The Police (Amendment) (Recruitment Standards) Regulations 2026

## Title and introductory text {#prelims}

2026 No. 154
POLICE, ENGLAND AND WALES
The Police (Amendment) (Recruitment Standards) Regulations 2026
Made
23rd February 2026
Laid before Parliament
24th February 2026
Coming into force
17th March 2026
The Secretary of State makes these Regulations in exercise of the powers conferred by section 50(1), (2)(b) and (4) of the Police Act 1996.
In accordance with section 50(2ZC)of that Act, the text of these Regulations has been approved by the College of Policing.

## 1 Citation, commencement and extent {#regulation-1}

These Regulations may be cited as the Police (Amendment) (Recruitment Standards) Regulations 2026 and come into force on 17th March 2026.

## 2 Citation, commencement and extent {#regulation-2}

These Regulations extend to England and Wales.

## 3 Amendment of the Police Regulations 2003 {#regulation-3}

The Police Regulations 2003 are amended as follows.

## 4 Amendment of the Police Regulations 2003 {#regulation-4}

In regulation 10 (qualifications for appointment to a police force)—
(a) in paragraph (1), after sub-paragraph (ea), insert—
(eb) must, if a candidate for appointment in the rank of constable, unless the candidate is applying to transfer to the force from another police force, within the periods of time and to the standard set by the College of Policing for each of the following stages—
(i) complete and submit to a police force the national application form;
(ii) pass the national sift test;
(iii) pass the online assessment process; and
(iv) pass an in-person interview with the police force to which they are applying that meets the national standard;
;
(b) in paragraph (3), after sub-paragraph (aa), insert the following definition—
(aab) “national application form” means an application form containing the complete set of questions as set by the College of Policing for the purposes of confirming the eligibility of a candidate for appointment to a police force;
;
(c) In paragraph 3, after sub-paragraph (ab), insert the following definition—
(aba) “national sift test” means the online test as approved by the College of Policing for the purposes of determining whether a candidate for appointment to a police force meets the national standard;
(abb) “national standard” means the minimum standard of competencies and values as set by the College of Policing that candidates must demonstrate to be suitable for appointment to the rank of constable;
(abc) “online assessment process” means the online exercises as set by the College of Policing for a police force to assess a candidate’s suitability for policing.
.