Work experience

The Bedfordshire Police work experience programme is an annual programme aimed at young people who live or are educated in the county and are of the eligible age.

Whether they attend a school or not the programme is open to applicants who would be in school Years 11 and 12 and are interested in broadening their knowledge of the police service with a view to considering a future career within policing.

It is a week commitment which is usually held at our Police Headquarters over the first week of July.

The programme will involve several different departments presenting interactive inputs to challenge and engage attendees which will improve their knowledge and understanding of what police do as well as showing them the different opportunities available and complexities of policing today.

Due to the number of young people who may wish to participate, an application form outlining why they want to be part of the programme, what they are looking to achieve and why they believe they are the best person for it would need to be completed.

Whilst the force would like to accept all young people wishing to take part places are limited to a small number and a reference would also be requested for all successful applicants.

Those accepted onto the programme will need to be dropped off and collected daily from our Police Headquarters in Kempston, Bedford or use public transport.

We are aware that the one-week programme we offer may fall outside of the usual school allocated work experience dates, however contact with a number of secondary schools across the county showed that the majority of schools would support their students in attending the programme if they wished to apply. 

Applications

Applications for the 2025 programme are now closed. Applications for the 2026 programme will open in December