Using the KSBs to Relate Academic Requirements to On-The-Job Skills

Degree apprenticeships combine academic learning at a higher education institution with professional skills learned ‘on the job’. The Police Constable Degree Apprenticeship (PCDA) incorporates academic content based on the national policing curriculum and operationally practised knowledge, skills and behaviours (KSBs). However, there is evidence that students are struggling to relate academic learning to professional practice. This chapter explores how using the KSBs in academic delivery provides an opportunity to fuse pedagogy with practical policing skills. This can help students discover how academic excellence is directly transferable to the practical skills they use daily. It further suggests that is an essential step towards encouraging the critical thinking skills necessary in today’s police service.