Frequently Asked Questions
The Academy is committed to recognising the prior experience and learning in Crime Prevention and Designing Out Crime - so if you’ve successfully completed the courses that were previously offered by the College of Policing and/or the Home Office Crime Reduction Centre, you can access a distance learning pathway through the Academy to convert these courses to the relevant accredited qualification(s).
Once you’re registered for either the Level 4 Certificate in Crime Prevention for Practitioners (if you’ve completed the Crime Prevention Modules/CP course) or the Level 5 Diploma in Crime Prevention-Designing Out Crime (if you’ve completed the Designing Out Crime module/ALO course), you can draw on your experience from the 3 years prior to registration to provide evidence against the qualification assessment criteria as well as using examples from your current role. No classroom attendance is required and the Academy provides you with appropriate support and guidance throughout the process.
The Academy delivers a range of accredited qualifications which are delivered nationally (open to individual delegates); by local delivery (booked by an organisation for delivery to a specific group); and by distance learning (based on recognised prior experience and learning).
The Academy provides the national delivery of the Level 4 qualification at least twice within the financial year, and the national delivery of the Level 5 designing out crime qualification at least once in the financial year. The Level 3 Award in Introduction to Crime Prevention, the Level 4 Certificate in Crime Prevention for Practitioners and the Level 5 Diploma in Crime Prevention-Designing Out Crime can also be delivered locally on request for a minimum number of delegates.
With most accredited qualifications, there’s a requirement for you to provide evidence that you can apply the learning in the role that you do. The Academy appreciates the pressures of undertaking a qualification whilst managing work and family life – so one of the requirements that’s stressed to your organisation is that you should be given adequate time to work through the preliminary booklet prior to the classroom phase, and to pull together the evidence that you need to provide against each of the assessment criteria after the classroom phase.
The Academy offers an accredited Level 3 Award in Introduction to Crime Prevention which is appropriate for anyone whose role/job involves them in providing practical, non-specialist crime prevention advice. Your organisation may also like to consider a bespoke event that the Academy will tailor to meet specific local requirements. Both the Level 3 crime prevention qualification and bespoke events are delivered locally by the Academy and can reflect local issues as requested.
The Academy welcomes applications from everyone and we’ll provide advice and support about the qualification and/or course that’s the best fit for your requirements. Our qualifications attract delegates from a wide range of professions and backgrounds who all have different levels of experience – this makes for productive discussions during sessions and supports invaluable networking afterwards.
The Academy is committed to providing support to its learners whether they are undertaking an accredited qualification or a course. As part of the accredited qualification classroom phase, the Academy trainer will have a ‘one to one’ with every delegate, and delegates will be provided with an electronic copy of assessment guidance for that qualification. If you undertake qualifications at Level 4 and at Level 5, you’ll be offered the opportunity to submit specified draft evidence which will reviewed with you by a member of the Academy team who’s not involved with the delivery or assessment of your qualification.
The Academy recognises that it can be daunting to return to learning if it’s been some time since you did any formal study - so when you’re undertaking an accredited qualification through the Academy, you’ll be provided with support and guidance throughout the process. This includes a handbook issued before the classroom phase to start you thinking about crime prevention or designing out crime; opportunities for group and individual discussion during the classroom phase about pulling together your portfolio; and guidance about the evidence requirements that you can refer to during the assessment phase.
The qualifications delivered by the Academy are accredited by the awarding body ProQual, which means that they have been registered by Ofqual. This means that if you’re undertaking a qualification, you’ll need to provide evidence of your knowledge and how you apply it, and this evidence is then assessed against the criteria for that qualification. The Academy supports you in doing this as part of complete process.
An accredited qualification is registered with an awarding body, regulated to ensure that it meets a certain standard, and recognised by employers. The Academy is an Approved Centre for the awarding body ProQual – anyone undertaking an accredited qualification with us will be registered with ProQual and receive a ProQual certificate in their name. You can take this certificate with you from role to role within an organisation and to new jobs as the accredited qualifications offered by the Academy are recognised by employers across the UK and beyond.
A transferable qualification is one that’s recognised both within your organisation and by other employers – so you can use it as evidence when applying for a new role within your current organisation or if you’re looking to move to a new employer. The accredited qualification that you can achieve through the Academy is a qualification in its’ own right that’s recognised by UK employers and beyond.
Having an accredited qualification means that your expertise and experience is formally recognised by employers, and the ProQual certificate is portable to other roles because it’s issued to you. The Academy is committed to recognising prior experience and learning that’s been achieved so we offer the opportunity to access the accredited qualifications using a distance learning route. This has been a popular option for many existing designing out crime officers/crime prevention design advisors/architectural liaison officers - please contact us for further details.
Costs are dependent on range of factors including the number of delegates, fees associated with accredited qualifications, etc. Costs will also reflect that fact that the Academy is part of Police Crime Prevention Initiatives, the police owned, non-profit, organisation that works on behalf of the Police Service throughout the UK to deliver a wide range of crime prevention and police demand reduction initiatives. So for a single delegate cost for national delivery and a costed proposal for local delivery on request, please contact us detailing your requirements using the email: