Jesse graduated from Public Services and walked straight into the Police Force

Jesse Buckingham came to study Public Services at college as the first step towards her career in the police. Jesse studied here for a few years, gained work experience and then came back to complete her Level 4. Jesse is now well on her way to becoming a fully qualified Police Woman and will soon be able to go out into the community independently.

Jesse - public services

I knew from quite a young age that I wanted to join the police.

“I came to study public services because A-Levels didn’t interest me and I knew from quite a young age that I wanted to join the police. I was a police cadet and I saw at the Chesterfield College open day that they offered a Public Services course. Level 3 is equivalent to A levels but it’s coursework throughout the year instead of exams. I thought it would be a great route for me to go down.

I wanted to come to the college university centre because it’s closer to home.

My Dads in the police so he was definitely a positive influence on me. I started on Level 3 because I had enough GCSEs and met the criteria. I did level 3 for two years and then my extended diploma. My tutor from my first year was asking of me, it was her that told me about the level 4 course. I got in touch with my old tutor Kevin and he let me know that I could still apply even though it was past the deadline. I wanted to come to the college university centre because it’s closer to home, cheaper and you get more support from the tutors.

It’s different to doing role play at training school, you are dealing with actual people.

I applied for PCSO but ended up training to become a PC. PCSO is a Police Community Support Officer. You don’t have full police powers, you engage with the local community and schools to keep them safe. I’m still in a training school for 18 weeks so I haven’t gone out and about. When I do go out, I still won’t have a clue what I am doing, I’ll be on a 10-week tutorship. This is where you are at your station and you are out and about but you’ve got your tutor there looking after you and showing you the ropes. It’s different to doing role play at training school, you are dealing with actual people. After that, you are out on your own. I’ve been told that you won’t really know what you are doing fully until you’ve been in the force for 2 years. That’s why you are on a 2-year probation. Plus, the law is changing all the time. I’m very excited though.

I’m still young, I’m 19, so I would rather get stuck in whilst I have no commitments.

I’m looking forward to being able to specialise after my 2-year probation ends. I want to get my response behind me then I would quite like to do task force and mounted police towards the end of my career. I also want to do PSU which is riots and football matches etc. I’m still young, I’m 19, so I would rather get stuck in whilst I have no commitments to family or kids. PSU can take up your weekends so whilst I don’t have those responsibilities I want to gain that experience.

You can’t lose anything from applying.

My advice for the people that don’t know what to do is when you are scrolling on your phone at night, just look into stuff. That’s all I was doing, going on career websites and looking at job descriptions to see what I could do. Anything you are qualified for, or could be qualified for, if you put your mind to it, you can do it. You can’t lose anything from applying.”

Find out more about our Public Services courses here.

Find out more about the range of courses and apprenticeships available at Chesterfield College.