Public Services

This course is aimed at 16-19-year-olds, interested in pursuing a career in the uniformed and protective services. You may be a cadet or been unsuccessful in the interview/application/medical/fitness stage with the Armed Forces Careers Offices (AFCO) and would benefit from doing this course in order to progress in your chosen career. Otherwise, you may be unsure which uniformed service you wish to follow or simply not yet ready for the training.

The Level 3 Uniformed and Protective Services course is designed to provide a detailed insight into a wide range of jobs, both in the public and private sectors. It will provide you with valuable employability skills, such as, leadership and teamwork, to enable you to pursue a career in one of these sectors. With this qualification you could look forward to a future career as a Police Officer, Fire Fighter or in the Army, Royal Marines, Royal Navy or RAF

You will gain a breadth of knowledge and understanding, and develop skills that will be required to work in this sector. The course comprises of a variety of challenging theoretical and practical units which include:

• Physical fitness for entry to the uniformed services
• Preparing for a career in a chosen uniformed service
• Developing leadership skills
• Emergency planning and response in the uniformed services
• Crime scene investigation
• Security procedures in the uniformed services

In addition, you could be offered a fantastic range of opportunities, such as:

• A visit to London and the Houses of Parliament
• Visits to the Police Tactical Training Unit
• A visit to a Fire station
• A British Army Residential
• A tour of the Forensics lab at University of Derby
• Bushcraft and other adventurous activities

You will be based predominantly at the Devonshire Dome, Buxton Campus. Lessons will include a wide range of activities including Powerpoint presentations, group and paired activities, guest speakers, videos, computer research and practical scenarios and tasks. Some units may require you to access other facilities such as the gym, sports halls, and the beautiful countryside surrounding the college.

You will benefit from demonstrations and talks from each of the force and emergency services, such as, a police dog and handler demonstration or a fitness tutorial by the Royal Marines. We may then stage mock incidents to allow you to demonstrate the skills and knowledge you have learned.

The knowledge and skill you acquire will be highly transferrable to any workplace including non-uniformed careers such as teaching, local authority, probation, civil service, NHS, law and private security work. In a highly competitive job market this qualification that can set your CV apart from others that may have stayed at school to complete post-16 education.

NCFE Level 3 Extended Diploma for Entry to the Uniformed Services

Following completion of this course you could progress on to;

• employment in the uniformed public services such as police, fire service and armed forces,
• or continue your education on a university degree course, such as, Public Services Management, Law, Criminology, Forensics, or International Studies (additional qualifications may be required speak to our careers advisors for more details).

You will create a NCFE portfolio which will provide evidence of your skills, knowledge and understanding. This may include:

• Videos/photos of participation in practical activities
• Written assignments
• PowerPoints
• Leaflets
• Posters
• Professional discussions

There is no formal examination required to achieve this qualification.

You will need a minimum of four Grade 4 GCSEs including Maths and English.