Recruitment News

  • 2026
  • 2025
  • 2021

Updated: 11/02/26

Police Officer Recruitment News - Recruitment Campaign for 2021


Recruitment Update - 10/07/2024

We are pleased to advise that it is our intention to continue making offers of appointment, with further Student Officer Development Courses planned to commence regularly between September 2024 and March 2025. 

We will therefore continue to process all candidates through the remaining pre-employment stages and appreciate your ongoing commitment to pursuing a career within the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

Recruitment Update - 11/04/2024

We are pleased to advise that the Department of Justice has now granted approval to implement the 2023/24 pay award for Police Officers. As a result, all Student Officers appointed after 1st September 2023 will enter at point 1 of the salary scale (£28,551). Following successful completion of their training, officers will remain on point 1 for the first year as a Probationary Constable. All Probationary Constables will move to pay point 2 (£29,751) after completing 12 months of the 2 year probation period. The Northern Ireland Transitional Allowance is also payable at the increased rate of £3,924. Please use the following link to access further information on the updated salary scale; Your Pay Scale.


Please check here for the latest information on the progress of the 2021 Campaign.

11/02/26

Police Officer Recruitment News - Recruitment Campaign for 2025

2025 Recruitment - Recruitment Process Ongoing - Update 31/07/2025

We hope to give an update to all candidates participating in the 2025 Student Officer recruitment process.

The Deloitte Managed Stages of recruitment are drawing to a close. Deloitte has now issued Assessment Centre results to all candidates and finalised the 2025 Merit List. 

Please check your email inbox (including junk folders) if you are expecting to hear the outcome of your Assessment Centre.

Congratulations to those who have been included on the Merit List - please check your inbox regularly in case you are contacted by the PSNI Team. It is expected that they will contact you with information in the coming weeks on the next steps regarding the PSNI Managed Stages of the recruitment process.   

To those candidates not included on the Merit List this time, please accept our sincere thanks for your participation in the recruitment process and for your co-operation throughout.


Please check here for the latest information on the progress of the 2025 Campaign. 

Police Officer Recruitment News - 2026

Update 6/3/26: 2026 Student Officer Initial Selection Test (IST) now closed

Thanks to all who participated in the recent IST stage. We will be in touch with all active candidates with IST results as soon as possible. We intend to email the results of the IST by end-of-day 13th March 2026. We appreciate your patience in the meantime.

For all who applied, regardless of whether or not you attempted the IST, we would appreciate your feedback on the early stages of the 2026 Student Officer recruitment process (application stage and IST stage). As such, please check your email for a message from us in which we have invited you to complete an anonymous survey on the recruitment process. Your views will help shape future PSNI recruitment. 

For those awaiting IST results, please take the time now to double-check that our email address is on your safe-senders list and make sure that your mailbox has sufficient data quota available to ensure you can continue to receive incoming email from us in relation to your application. 

Please check back here regularly on Recruitment News (2026 tab) in case of any urgent updates.  

Good luck for the outcome of your IST! 


Future Recruitment 

The 2026 Student Officer recruitment process closed on 4th February 2026. Those who applied are currently progressing through the 2026 recruitment process.  

Currently, we have no details on when exactly future recruitment will be open to fresh applications. We encourage you to check back regularly for updates and thank you for your interest in a role with the Police Service of Northern Ireland.

Make it a career.

Application Process

Check below to see current status of application process.

  • 2026
Online Application Stage
2026 Student Officer Recruitment - Applications now closed
complete
Online IST / Evidence Uploader
2026 IST now closed
current stage
Assessment Centre
Assessment Centre phase ongoing
Merit List Passed to PSNI
Merit List transferred to PSNI on 31 July 2025
Vetting
Physical Competence Assessment
Health Assessment
Substance Misuse Test
Online Learning
Appointable Candidates Invited to Training in Merit Order
**Student Officer Recruitment Now Closed to Fresh Applications**. For those who applied to the 2026 recruitment process we are currently processing Initial Selection Test (IST) results. (The IST closed at 11:59pm on 2nd March 2026). While you await your IST result, please prepare your evidence in readiness for the Eligibility Evidence Upload process.