Introduction to the scheme

1) What is the Police Station Accreditation Scheme?

2) Who can do Police Station Accreditation?

3) Do I need to be working for a solicitors' firm to do the scheme?

4) If I do not work for a solicitors' firm, will CLT find me one?

5) How many supervisors can I use?

6) What are the elements of the scheme that I need to complete?

7) How do I apply for accreditation?

8) Do I need to pay for my accreditation on application?

9) What method can I pay?

10) What will I receive when I register with CLT?

11) What order can I do the accreditation scheme?

12) What identification will you accept?

13) When can I get paid for Police Station work?

The Written Exam

14) What exempts me from the written examination?

15) What does the written exam assess?

16) What do I need to revise for the written examination?

17) How often and where is the written examination conducted?

18) How long is the written examination ?

19) What materials can I take into the written examination?

20) What is the pass mark for the written examination?

The Critical Incident Test

21) What is the Critical Incident Test?

22) How long will the Critical Incident test take?

23) What materials can I take into the Critical Incident test?

The Portfolio

24) What is the purpose of the portfolio?

25) How do I compile my Part A and B portfolio?

26) When can I submit my Part A portfolio?

27) How long does it take to process the Part A portfolio, and what do I get back?

28) How do I contact the LSC regarding my PIN number?

29) When can I submit my Part A and B portfolio?

30) What happens if I miss the deadline of the portfolio submission?

31) Do you give extensions on the portfolio submission?

32) How do I send my portfolio?

33) Do you keep copies on my portfolio?

34) What offences can I advise on when I am going through the scheme?

35) The police didn’t interview my client. Can I still use this case in my portfolio?

36) My client attended for a voluntary interview and was not under arrest. Is this okay?

37) Can I use a case where a defendant was interviewed for a number of offences, some of which were either way but one of which was indictable only?

38) Can I use a case where the interview was not at a police station?

39) Can I include an ID procedure?

40) Can I use a case where the defendant was interviewed by someone other than the police?

41) Can I include cases where the client is paying privately?

42) Can I include bail backs?

Marking

43) How is my exam/CIT/portfolio marked?

44) Do you provide feedback?

45) What is the appeals procedure?

46) Why are appeals not allowed?

47) When do I receive my results?

48) Do you inform the LSC my results?

49) I want my results to go to a different address, can it be redirected?

50) Will I receive a certificate?

Training Courses

51) Is there a training programme?

52) Do I need to take the training programme?

53) I cannot attend the course, can I purchase the course notes?

54) How do I enrol on the courses?

55) What other support do you provide?

56) I want to buy one of the kits. What do I do?

Health and Special Requirements

57) I am feeling unwell. Will the assessor take this into consideration when marking my Critical Incident Test and Written Examination?

58) Does CLT accommodate Disabilities and Special Needs?

59) There is some extenuating circumstance that might affect my performance in a CIT or exam. Will this be taken into account?

Suspension From The Scheme

60) What happens if I do not pass within the time limits?

61) When does the time limit for suspension start?

62) I submitted my portfolio/ took my Critical Incident Test in the time limit, why have the LSC suspended me?

63) I’m going to be out of time to complete all the elements for the PSR scheme. Can you give me an extension?

Introduction To The scheme

1) What is the Police Station Accreditation Scheme ?
The Police Station accreditation scheme has been developed by the Law Society and LSC to raise the general standards of representation of clients carried out by representatives in the police station and fundamentally change their approach to defence work.

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2) Who can do Police Station Accreditation?

Any one can apply from trainee solicitors to someone with no formal qualifications. Certain people are prohibited from doing the scheme, such as serving police officers, although many retired police officers have successfully taken it.

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3) Do I need to be working for a solicitors' firm to do the scheme ?

Yes you need to be working for a firm in the criminal department or at least in line with them and have a duty solicitor who will be able to supervise you from this firm.

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4) If I do not work for a solicitors' firm, will CLT find me one?

Unfortunately CLT cannot find you a firm to work in, however we recommend that you contact your local firms in your area or look on the Law Society and ILEX recruitment pages. The www.policestationreps.com website also contains access to a list of duty solicitors in your area.

5) How many supervisors can I use?
The first two cases of the Part ‘A’ portfolio are when the candidate observes any qualified solicitor conduct interviews at the police station. For cases 3-9 of the portfolio you must use 1 supervising solicitor that you have designated, and must be a Duty Solicitor.

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6) What are the elements of the scheme that I need to complete?

1. Written Examination (Unless exempt- see Q14)
2. Portfolio (Part A - 4 Cases, Part B - 5 Cases)
3. Critical Incident Test

7) How do I apply for accreditation?
Candidates need to register with CLT on an application for the assessments required. Please contact Helen Daniels on 0121 362 7526 for an application form or download a copy on the CLT website www.clt.co.uk/Police Station Accreditation Scheme. Registration cannot be accepted over the telephone.

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8) Do I need to pay for my accreditation on application?
The registration fee and SRA authorisation fee are required in full upon application unless purchasing a discounted package whereby full payment is required on booking.

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9) What method can I pay?

• Cheque
• Credit/debit Card
• Invoice (if company has account with CLT)

10) What will I receive when I register with CLT?

• Registration letter which includes a login and password.
• Part A portfolio forms
• Confirmation of examination and course bookings.

11) What order can I do the accreditation scheme?

1. Candidates must take and pass the written examination first (unless exempt).
2. Candidates can then conduct the part A of the portfolio and have it checked for technical compliance by CLT
3. Candidate register with LSC for a pin number to start to claim payment
4. Candidate can then do the critical incident and Part B of the portfolio in any order

12) What identification will you accept?
At the assessment venue candidates MUST produce evidence of both name and address, the following items will be accepted for:

Name: a passport or photographic driving licence;
Address: a utility bill, photographic driving licence or CLT confirmation letter

Candidates, who fail to satisfy the invigilator as to his/her identity, may be refused entry to the assessment.

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13) When can I get paid for Police Station work?
Once the part A of the portfolio has passed the technical compliance check, an application is sent to the candidate to send to the LSC directly. The LSC will then issue a Personal Identification number, or PIN for the candidate to claim payment.

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The Written Exam

14) What exempts me from the written examination?

• You have passed the Legal Practice Course (LPC)
• You have passed the Bar Vocational Course (BVC)
• You have passed the level 6[4] Professional Higher Diploma in Law which must include a pass in the criminal law and the criminal litigation papers.
• You are a qualified solicitor
• You have passed an Exempting Law Degree; providers of these courses can be viewed online at http://www.sra.org.uk/students/courses/qualifying-law-degree-providers.page

15) What does the written exam assess?
The written test will assess the candidate's knowledge and understanding of basic criminal law, the law of evidence and police station procedures. It will also assess the candidate's understanding of both the advisor's role in the police station and of the skills that are needed to perform that role effectively.

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16) What do I need to revise for the written examination?
Full details of what areas that need to be revised will be in the guidelines provided on registration.

17) How often and where is the written examination conducted?
They are conducted 6 times a year alternating between Birmingham and London on a Tuesday morning.

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18) How long is the written examination?
Registration takes place at 9.30am

The examination starts at 10am with 15 minutes reading time, followed by a two-hour examination. The exam finishes at approximately 12.15pm.

19) What materials can I take into the written examination ?
The examination will be 'open book'. Candidates may take the following into the test:

• Text books may be annotated, highlighted and underlined. Text books must be published works with an ISBN number.
• It is the current Law and Procedure on the date of the assessment that is examinable; any permitted materials you choose to use should be appropriately annotated to reflect changes since publication.
• Only purchased on line materials are permitted to be printed and taken into the exam.
• Personally prepared and/or lecture notes

20) What is the pass mark for the written examination?
The pass mark is 50%.

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The Critical Incident Test

21) What is the Critical Incident Test?
The purpose of this test is to assess the candidate's effectiveness in the police station, by simulating police station situations on CD. Candidates will be tested individually. They will be played extracts of typical police station situations and be asked to respond, on another Dictaphone, to the typical situations. The appropriateness of the responses and the candidate's oral communication and assertiveness skills will be assessed..

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22) How long will the Critical Incident test take?
It will take approximately 45 minutes to complete

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23) What materials can I take into the Critical Incident test?
Candidates may take any materials into the assessment including photocopied information, downloaded information, personally-prepared notes, and books. Candidates should understand that time for referring to such text is limited.

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The Portfolio

24) What is the purpose of the portfolio?

• Encourage representatives to consider and reflect upon their performance in the police station and identify their own training needs;
• Encourage supervising solicitors to review their representatives’ competence and take steps to address any deficiencies; and
• Enable CLT to assess a representative’s competence to give advice in police stations.

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25) How do I compile my Part A and B portfolio?
All details regarding the compilation of the portfolio are detailed in the guidelines, which can be found on the login pages of the website.

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26) When can I submit my Part A portfolio?
Once you have passed the written exam or are exempt, you can submit your Part A portfolio at any time, so long as your 4 cases are no older then 3 months old from the date of the first case.

27) How long does it take to process the Part A portfolio, and what do I get back?
Within 5 working days of receiving your Part A portfolio we will write to you with the following

• Admin 2 form (to enable you to obtain a pin number from the LSC)
• Part B portfolio forms
• Course and assessment details.

28) How do I contact the LSC regarding my PIN number?
Defence Solicitors Call Centre
Selectapost 45
Sheffield
S97 3FS

TE: 08457 500620


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29) When can I submit my Part A and B portfolio?
The complete portfolio must be submitted on or very shortly before one of the set submission dates that are held through the year.

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30) What happens if I miss the deadline of the portfolio submission?
The portfolio will be returned to you for you to submit in the next round.

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31) Do you give extensions on the portfolio submission?
Extensions for submitting portfolios will be at the Assessment Board’s discretion, and are only allowed in extreme circumstances e.g. bereavement of a family member or major surgery/ illness (this does not include, under any circumstances, not having the time to compile the portfolio due to work commitments).

Extensions of only up to a maximum of five working days from the relevant submission date will be given. Any requests for an extension of time need to be:

1. In writing;
2. Supported by documentary evidence; and
3. Sent at least one working day before the submission date.

32) How do I send my portfolio?
By post to our Sutton Coldfield address for the attention of the programme coordinator.

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33) Do you keep copies on my portfolio?
CLT do not keep copies of your portfolio. We strongly advise that you retain a copy of your portfolio including feedback with your supervisor’s signature in case of accidental loss.

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34) What offences can I advise on when I am going through the scheme?

• Must be own client
• Summary offences
• Either way offences

• Referred duty cases
• Indictable-only offences

35) The police didn’t interview my client. Can I still use this case in my portfolio?
No. The scheme rules say that each case must include an interview.

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36) My client attended for a voluntary interview and was not under arrest. Is this okay?
Yes. Provided that an interview with the police took place the case is acceptable.

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37) Can I use a case where a defendant was interviewed for a number of offences, some of which were either way but one of which was indictable only?
You could have used the case when it was an either way offence however you should not have been involved in the interview of an indictable offence.

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38) Can I use a case where the interview was not at a police station?
No. The rules require that all the cases must be for clients interviewed at a police station.

39) Can I include an ID procedure?
You can provided that there is also an interview. If using an ID case you will need to ensure that there are sufficient issues in it to attract a pass mark.

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40) Can I use a case where the defendant was interviewed by someone other than the police?
No. The interview should be by the police for the case to be admissible. Interviews carried out jointly by the police and another agency are acceptable.

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41) Can I include cases where the client is paying privately?
Yes. There is no problem with doing this.

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42) Can I include bail backs?
You can, provided that the client was interviewed on the bail back. You will need to ensure that there are sufficient issues involved with your attendance, such as an assessment of the evidence and giving advice to client, to ensure that it can pass.

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Marking

43) How is my exam/CIT/portfolio marked?
All our markers are practicing duty solicitors, so you will be assessed by people who are experienced in doing the job. Any borderline cases are then sent to a second marker who is a senior academic solicitor. All results are then viewed by an independent moderator whose job is to ensure fairness and consistency between markers, and our Test Board also reviews the results.

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44) Do you provide feedback?
Every delegate will be sent a sheet explaining any areas of concern noted by the assessor. Most of these are in a tick box format (similar to that used, for example, in a driving test).

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45) What is the appeals procedure?
There is no appeal against academic judgement. This is because every effort has been made to ensure that all results are correct. The written exam papers, critical incident tests and portfolios are first marked, second marked and moderated. This means that three separate academic assessors review papers.

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46) Why are appeals not allowed?
The Solicitors Regulation Authority, who govern the schemes, do not permit appeals against academic judgement. We agree with this as the mechanisms that we have in place are as good as possible to prevent errors.

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47) When do I receive my results?
Results are to be despatched within 30 working days (this does not include weekends and bank holidays) from the date of the written examination/portfolio submission and from the end of the examination week of the critical incident test.

Due to the Data Protection Act CLT can no longer provide examination results over the telephone. If results have not been received in a reasonable amount of time after they have been dispatched, delegates may call and request that the results are resent.

To request that results be resent candidates must provide their delegate ID number to CLT.

Candidates with an outstanding account i.e. balance owing to CLT will NOT be issued with their results until payment has been received.

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48) Do you inform the LSC my results?
Yes, the LSC will be informed of all results with 5 working days of the relevant test board meeting.

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49) I want my results to go to a different address, can it be redirected?
Yes, however you need to put the details in writing to the Programme Co-ordinator, to have it redirected. This must be received no later than 20 working days after the assessment to guarantee that your records can be changed.

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50) Will I receive a certificate?
Candidates will be sent letters of their results from CLT. On successful completion of the scheme (i.e., passing all elements required) The LSC will award certificates to successful candidates.

CLT do not issue certificates.

Training Courses

51) Is there a training programme?
CLT have developed a comprehensive training programme for candidates required to undertake the accreditation. Details are available on the CLT website at www.clt.co.uk/Police Station Accreditation Scheme. Alternatively please call Helen Daniels on 0121 362 7526 who will be happy to offer advice and provide brochures. Questions can also be addressed by email to psr@clt.co.uk.

The training programme is in two parts, a lecture programme run regularly throughout the year and self-study and training packs which you can purchase at any time.

52) Do I need to take the training programme?

Attendance at courses is not mandatory, and has no bearing on the accreditation process; candidates may wish to consider some form of training prior to sitting the assessments. The assessors who mark your submission will not know whether you have been on a training course of not (all material is marked anonymously) and so do not mark you down for not attending any training courses, but in our experience those candidates who undertake training are far more likely to be successful given the extra advice that they receive on these courses.

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53) I cannot attend the course, can I purchase the course notes?
We do not sell course notes for any of our preparation or skills courses. In our view it is a better option for candidates to purchase our online Foundation Manuals. These four manuals were written by our assessors, and contain a substantial amount of information. These can be purchased as part of the Police Station Skills Kit.

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54) How do I enrol on the courses?
You are required to complete the course enrolment form, found within the Police Station Accreditation brochure. This application form is part of the brochure and can be downloaded from www.clt.co.uk/Police Station Accreditation Scheme. Alternatively please call the Professional Qualifications Division on 0121 362 7526 who will be happy to offer advice and provide brochures. Requests can also be addressed by email to psr@clt.co.uk.

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55) What other support do you provide?
We offer two products designed to help you pass the assessment programme and also to practice effectively as a police station advisor. The The Police Station Skills Kit is a comprehensive programme containing training manuals, web site material and practice CIT's. The CIT Pass Pack is a specialist programme designed to help people pass the CIT, which is normally regarded as the most difficult part of the assessment. This can be purchased separately or as part of the Police Station Skills Kit.

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56) I want to buy one of the kits. What do I do?
Once you have completed a booking form and sent it to us with your payment, you should have access to your personal login area within 5 working days.

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Health and Special Requirements

57) I am feeling unwell. Will the assessor take this into consideration when marking my Critical Incident Test and Written Examination?
The assessor is not able to take illness into consideration when marking your critical incident test and written examination. He would not be aware of how you would present yourself otherwise.

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58) Does CLT accommodate Disabilities and Special Needs?
We endeavour to accommodate candidates with disabilities or special needs. Candidates are required to enclose with their application written details of their needs together with supporting medical documents or other evidence should outline their disability or special need. Supporting evidence should not be older than 12 months old.

Candidates are also required to outline and recommendations as to the arrangements required.

Requests not submitted with the original application should be received by CLT in writing at least 20 working days before the assessment, otherwise CLT cannot guarantee that suitable arrangements can be made to accommodate the need. CLT reserve the right to cancel or refuse a candidate’s registration for an assessment and/or examination where insufficient notice has been given to CLT.

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59) There is some extenuating circumstance that might affect my performance in a CIT or exam. Will this be taken into account?
Tell us in advance and we will see whether special arrangements can be made or things taken into consideration. We cannot do it for matters we are not notified of until after the test has taken place.

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Suspension From The Scheme

60) What happens if I do not pass within the time limits?
The LSC will suspend the candidate and will not give any further payment for police station work until the candidate has passed the appropriate element.

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61) When does the time limit for suspension start?
This starts when you get your LSC PIN number NOT from registration with CLT. Candidates have 6 months to pass one element and a further 6 months after that to complete it all (i.e. either the Critical Incident Test or the complete portfolio).

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62) I submitted my portfolio/ took my Critical Incident Test in the time limit, why have the LSC suspended me?
The element has to be passed to remain on the LSC register, not just sat or submitted. CLT are not liable for any suspension, it is up to the candidates to timetable themselves. Results for an assessment are not dispatched until up to 30 working days after the assessment. It is the candidate’s responsibility to have regard to this, and the LSC deadlines, when planning their accreditation timetable.

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63) I’m going to be out of time to complete all the elements for the PSR scheme. Can you give me an extension?
No. This isn’t our decision. Extensions of time are granted by the LSC. We will allow you to submit elements at any time subject to the rules on the age of cases but the LSC will not pay for a probationary rep to attend the police station if they have been registered as a trainee for more than twelve months. Any application to extend this time must be made to them.

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