Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary offer one week work experience placements to school students in year 10 and 11 who reside in Hampshire or the Isle of Wight.

Work experience provides young people with a positive first-hand experience of policing and will assist decision making regarding potential careers within the Constabulary, either as a police officer or member of police staff.

For the Constabulary, it offers our officers and staff the opportunity to share their knowledge, experience and develop their coaching skills. Alongside this, work experience reflects the Constabulary’s commitment to actively engage with our communities.

Successful students will gain practical insights into different areas of non-frontline policing. This will mainly consist of office based roles to ensure the student gains an understanding of some of the different areas and specialisms within the Constabulary.

Work experience placements operate under the following conditions;

• One week placements
• A maximum of ten placements with two students on a placement at a time. This may mean a student carries out their placement with another student they may not know.
• Placements will take place at different locations in the Constabulary across the week, namely Eastleigh, Netley and Southampton. Students will therefore need to be able to travel to and from these locations at the start and end of the working day. There is no requirement to travel during the day.
• A vetting check will be carried out on the student and those living at their home address(es) to ensure that they are not known to the Constabulary. This vetting check will be completed at the time of application. An adverse vetting outcome may impact on the placement being possible.

Consent to attend the work experience placement will need to be given by the students parent/ guardian/ carer. The student will need to sign agreements in relation to confidentiality, use of mobile phones/social media, and dress code.

Volunteer Police Cadets who wish to apply should be aware the work experience scheme is entirely separate to the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Volunteer Police Cadet initiative. Light vetting in order to undertake the work experience scheme will be required in all cases.

We are currently open to applications from interested students to complete work experience placements in 2026. Those interested must complete the application form below;

Please note the application form cannot be saved and therefore needs to be completed in one go. If unable to do so, we recommend working on the responses on a separate word document and transferring the detail across to the form when ready to submit. The following three questions are required if students wish to prepare responses prior to completion;

1. What makes you a suitable candidate to be considered for Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary’s work experience programme? (75 word limit)
2. What do you hope to gain from taking part in our work experience programme? (250 word limit)
3. Please tell us more about you – what are your interests and career aspirations? How do these align to policing? (400 word limit)

The closing date for applications is Friday 21st November 2025 Please note, in the event a high volume of applications are received, the Constabulary may consider closing the applications window earlier than advertised.

Upon submission of the application form, the student’s parent/ guardian/ carer will need to complete a consent form and provide details of all individuals over the age of ten living at the same home address(es) as the student. The student’s application form will not be processed without completion of the consent form and vetting information.

Parent / Carer / Guardian Work Experience Consent Form

Hampshire & Isle of Wight Constabulary will contact the parent/ guardian on the email address provided within eight weeks of the closing date to confirm whether the students have been successful. Feedback will not be provided to those students who are unsuccessful.

Please contact HIOWCworkexperience@hampshire.police.uk should you have any questions regarding the work experience scheme.