Nottinghamshire Police achieves record pass rate for investigator exams

Nottinghamshire Police's pass rate for investigator exams has recently soared to record levels meaning that the force is set to deliver an influx of new detectives.

Candidates must pass the National Investigators Examination (NIE) before they can become a trainee detective.

The purpose of the exam is to identify those capable of undertaking phase two of the Professionalising Investigations Programme, which provides candidates with the skills they need to investigate serious and complex crimes.

In recent years, Nottinghamshire Police's pass rate for the NIE averaged out at 60.3% - similar to the national average.

However, since the force invested in a specialist training provider to help its candidates prepare for the exam, its pass rate has soared to 90% - with 15 out of 17 candidates passing the most recent exam in March this year.

Detective Inspector Ed Cook, of Nottinghamshire Police's Crime & Operational Support Command, said the decision to utilise Police Pass and its training products was yielding excellent results.

He said: "The Police Pass package is a blended learning resource making it a more inclusive learning package and the feedback we've had from candidates has been really good.

"It's very thorough and breaks everything down into bitesize sections. I have no doubt it's played a huge part in motivating our candidates to enter the NIE and delve into the training materials."

Launched in 2005, Police Pass is the largest provider of NIE training in the country, providing candidates with a mix of e-learning, face-to-face training, textbooks and Zoom tutorials.

Gary Mills, who co-runs Police Pass, said: "We've got a study timetable that lasts 12 weeks. That finishes the week before the exam and then we offer a refresher course to reinforce everything they've learnt over those 12 weeks.

"We've just had our first run with Nottinghamshire Police and we're really pleased with the results."

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