28 young people completed a special training step on their way into the police service on Wednesday, July 3, 2024. Minister of Education Dorothee Feller and Minister of the Interior Herbert Reul presented 14 women and 14 men with their certificates at the Max Weber Vocational College in Düsseldorf, the first police candidates in North Rhine-Westphalia to successfully complete the "Technical College for Business and Administration, with a focus on the Police Clerical Service" (FOS Polizei for short). They are now embarking on a career as a candidate for the higher police civil service. FOS police certificates are also being awarded at a total of 10 other vocational colleges in North Rhine-Westphalia these days. Across the state, more than 290 graduates have successfully completed the course.
The new school model, which has been in existence for two years, enables trainees with an intermediate school leaving certificate to enter the senior police service and thus complements the conventional training pathway, which requires higher school-leaving qualifications.
Interior Minister Herbert Reul: "I am delighted that we can congratulate our first FOS test pilots on their graduation. With the FOS Police course, we have broken new ground within the police force and made access to police training more permeable. In doing so, we also want to give a chance to those who are not initially on our radar, but who are highly motivated and talented. In this way, we are making it possible for people with an intermediate level of education to join the police force. Not only high school students make good police officers. Most graduates are also given a ticket to study with the North Rhine-Westphalia police when they receive their certificate. We look forward to welcoming these young, motivated people who want to continue their career in the North Rhine-Westphalia police force."
School Minister Feller: "Our vocational colleges make an important contribution to the skilled labor offensive in North Rhine-Westphalia with their enormously broad range of training, and this also includes training the police officers of tomorrow. The offer is very well received, which is also due to the fact that the training optimally combines practical experience in a police authority with teaching content at the vocational college."
In the two-year FOS police training course, graduates acquire the entrance qualification for universities of applied sciences and thus the admission requirement for a subsequent bachelor's degree course at the NRW University of Applied Sciences for Police and Public Administration, combined with a conditional promise of employment for the police enforcement service. In the first year, students complete an internship in a district police authority, including assignments in the patrol car on guard duty, insights into criminal investigation work and participation in police training units. This is followed in the second year by an exclusively school-based part. Students receive lessons in subjects such as law and political science in preparation for the police service. The curriculum is geared towards the content of the subsequent bachelor's degree course.
In recent years, the number of applications to vocational colleges for this training course has increased - from 2,485 in 2022 to 2,936 in 2023. This year, the application process for the start of training in summer 2025 will run until 30 November. The number of participating vocational colleges was increased from eleven to 15 last year. The four new locations are the Eugen-Schmalenberg-Berufskolleg in the Märkischer Kreis district, the Freiherr-von-Stein-Berufskolleg in Minden-Lübbeke, the Berufskolleg Hilden in the Mettmann district and the Berufskolleg Nord in the Aachen city region. An initial nationwide evaluation among students and teachers has shown that they are very satisfied with the training on offer.
Further information on the FOS Polizei can be found at
https://www.schulministerium.nrw/fos-polizei
https://www.next-level-polizei.de/fachoberschule-polizei/
For inquiries from the public, please contact: Telephone 0211 871-01.
For journalistic inquiries, please contact the press office of the Ministry of the Interior, telephone 0211 871-1111 and the press office of the Ministry of Schools and Education, telephone 0211 5867-3505.
This press release is also available at www.land.nrw