Police Service Quality Assurance Scheme

This is a single quality assurance system that covers all training, learning and development designed and, or implemented by police forces.

Forces acknowledged a need for a quality assurance scheme that covered all national and local learning programmes whilst reducing bureaucracy. This scheme has been designed to do that by providing a single submission process that focuses their quality assurance activity.

Forces are required to carry out a self assessment of their training provision and outline how they will maintain their strengths, and progress improvements. Prior to signing off the self assessment, it will be subjected to a form of peer review which will allow forces to share best practice.

The main objective is to improve the training, learning and development which will improve performance and consequently public confidence in the service.

Read the scheme briefing document for further information.

What are the benefits?
  • Focuses on outcomes and improvements
  • Reduces bureaucracy
  • Provides a robust process for peer review
  • Provides a single point of focus for quality assurance activity
  • Facilitates ownership of quality assurance and improvement within forces 
  • Identifies functionality of internal quality schemes
  • Provides information to Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary for inspections.

What is the NPIA's role?

The Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) Learning and Development Group have requested that the NPIA act as stewards of the scheme on behalf of the police service, whilst noting that the scheme is jointly owned by key stakeholders.

Acting as stewards, we will:

  • Support the implementation and ongoing use of the scheme
  • Track completion of the scheme
  • Provide advice and support to forces regarding implementation
  • Collate and analyse outcomes
  • Identify significant variances
  • Highlight common areas of strength
  • Facilitate sharing of noteworthy practice
  • Collate and disseminate annual reports

What resources are available to support the implementation?

We have given forces a scheme handbook, which provides an overview of the process and explanation of how to undertake the self assessment. We've also provided an electronic template for completing the self assessment and a data sheet to record peer review activity.

Download the scheme handbook.

As an alternative to the electronic template we have provided a software application called Quality Assurance Management Systems (QAMS) to enable the self assessment and subsequent updates to be done online. If you want to complete your annual self assessment for PSQA using QAMS please log on.

Read a briefing document on QAMS for further information. 

South Wales Police have kindly provided a mapping of Baseline Assessment to the Quality Assurance Scheme for Training, Learning and Development in the Police Service.

Background

The design of the scheme was initiated jointly through the National Quality Assurance Collaborative Forums and the NPIA, and was done so under the direction of the ACPO Learning and Development Managers Group.

A working party representing learning and development functions from a number of different policing regions together with the NPIA through meetings, workshops and consultation have produced the scheme.