A record number of people interested in the policing profession have again applied to police education: there were over 5,200 applicants for police education starting in 2020. This year there are 400 available student places for the Bachelor of Police Services program - nearly 13 applicants per student place.
“We’ve reached a great deal of the public interested in the policing profession in various events, and have actively described the study program in social media. The strongest lure is, of course, an interesting and versatile occupation, which is available to Police University College graduates,” Head of Student Services Jyrki Haapala says.
“As prospective police students, we are hoping both for those straight out of upper secondary school or vocational school and experienced profession changers or, for example, university and college graduates. The work assignments are multiple in scope and variation, for many kinds of performers. In the wide-ranging job description of what police do, virtually all types of work experience are of use and value.”
The Bachelor of Police Services study program lasts around three years, and qualifies holders for police officer positions like that of Senior Constable. Completion of the degree qualifies officers to conduct criminal investigations and to work in surveillance as well as emergency response operations.
Four application periods during the year
The statistics concerning the number of Police University College applicants are compiled by starting year, not by calendar year.
“We are not part of the joint application procedure; rather, there are four application periods per year. We compile the numbers of applicants in accordance with the starting year of education; i.e. among those starting in 2020, there are applicants from both this and last year. The application process with its various stages always lasts at least half a year.”
Bachelor of Police Services education usually starts four times a year: in January, April, August and October. Up to this point, students have been selected for Finnish-language police education groups from the first two application periods. In addition, this year a Swedish-language course was also initiated. Swedish-language police education begins at intervals of one and a half years.
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