Staff Eligibility Criteria Briefing and Instructions
Evidence Uploader Briefing and Instructions
Please consider the following important points which outline the main aspects of how you can prove your eligibility and how we will assess it. In particular, refer to sections 5 and 6 below for instructions on using the Evidence Uploader.
1. Please ensure that you are fully aware of what our expectations are in relation to the Eligibility Criteria (a. Education Criteria, b. Right to Work, c. Driving Licence [for those that have one]).
We will conduct checks on your eligibility relating to both your education qualifications and your Right To Work evidence at the one time. You will be expected to present evidence relating to both these elements of the PSNI eligibility criteria while the Evidence Uploader is open.
(a). Education Criteria
Applicants are required to have a minimum of 5 GCSEs (or equivalent) at A* - C grade, including English Language and Maths.
Please note that all evidence / certificates should be dated on or before 8th August 2024.
In exceptional cases, where the qualification has only recently been completed (e.g., during late 2023 / early 2024), but not yet certified, exceptions to the certification date may be considered, providing formal supporting evidence is supplied via the Evidence Uploader before it closes (e.g. this could be in the form of a letter / email from your awarding body or school / college to confirm the qualification has already been achieved, but the certificate has just not been issued as yet).
(b). Right To Work
Applicants are required to provide acceptable evidence to confirm their Right to Work in the UK.
In order to be eligible to be included on the Merit List and progress to the PSNI managed stages of the recruitment process it is essential that you participate in the Right to Work checking process. Your co-operation is anticipated.
You are obliged to present evidence to show how you meet the criteria using an online Evidence Uploader. It is essential that you present acceptable evidence by the 12 noon 8th August 2024 Evidence Uploader closing date.
Please remember it is your personal responsibility to ensure that you can prove you meet the eligibility criteria. Above all, it is important that you can engage with the process and upload appropriate evidence to be considered, or you will not be able to progress to the next stages of the recruitment process.
(c). Driving Licence - (non-mandatory request for evidence, where it exists)
If you do have a Driving Licence, please provide evidence of it. If you do not have a Driving Licence, you are exempt from this current request to provide evidence in relation to having a Driving Licence.
For those Applicants that have one - please provide evidence of your full valid Driving Licence. Please provide evidence of both the photo licence card and any paper licence counterpart (front and back of both items).
N.B. This request is in reference to the criteria "Applicants must have a valid driving licence and a car available for official business use, or access to a form of personal transport that will enable you to meet the requirements of the post in full".
For any applicants who do not have a full valid Driving Licence, but who will have access to a form of personal transport that will enable them to meet the requirements of the post in full, it is not mandatory to provide evidence in relation to a Driving Licence now. For such applicants, this matter will be followed up upon at a later date, when the PSNI HR team may seek further details on how you plan to meet the criteria through the use of a form of personal transport.
2. Please ensure you present appropriate evidence during the Evidence Uploader Phase.
You must co-operate by uploading relevant evidence before the deadline of 12 noon on 8th August 2024.
If you upload unacceptable evidence, fail to co-operate in this process or fail to follow the instructions relating to use of the Evidence Uploader you risk being automatically withdrawn from the recruitment process. As such, you are strongly encouraged to consider the Key Matters document which outlines the types of scenarios we often see that tend to result in evidence being rejected. You will also find useful general information via the following websites:
(a). Education Criteria information:
Education Eligibility Criteria
(b) Right To Work information:
- Note: please only present evidence that shows you to meet the criteria. It will serve no purpose to submit evidence over and above that which shows you meet the criteria. Keep evidence uploaded to the minimum, or the processing of your evidence may be delayed. In particular, with regard to the education criteria, unless asked, we do not need to see evidence of all of your qualifications.
3. The name recorded on your evidence should match the name you used when applying to the PSNI.
For both the Education Criteria and Right To Work checks (and, where applicable, the request for evidence of having a Driving Licence), if the name on your evidence differs from the name in which you applied you must provide evidence to clarify this. E.g., a Marriage Certificate or Civil Partnership Certificate or Change of Name Deed Poll Certificate will be required to clarify this matter. If such evidence is not relevant / available, some other form of formal evidence to explain the matter or evidence that links the differing names will be considered.
4. Accepted evidence
(a). Education Criteria
We encourage the use of official Certificates or 'Certified Statements of Results' (these can be acquired from the relevant exam board).
The following can be considered, but there may be a delay while verification of evidence is completed:
- Statements of provisional results / 'Results-day' information slips, (providing any subsequent 're-mark request' has not caused a fall in a relevant grade to below that acceptable to PSNI)
- Letters from school/education institute listing results (if provided on official headed paper or via organisation's email system)
- Extracts from an education results website such as SIMS - School Information Management System
- Other similar evidence
Equivalency must be proven
If you intend to present qualifications other than GCSEs to prove that you meet the education criteria it is important that equivalency is clear. It is especially important to prove that you have the required standalone qualification in English Language and Maths in addition to other qualifications to the appropriate level which meet the criteria.
If you have GCSEs (or other UK qualifications at Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF) Level 2) there is no need to present higher or alternative qualifications, as this can cause delays in the validation process.
If you are intending to present other UK qualifications, because you do not have GCSEs, it will assist us if you can provide additional details on the qualification, including, if possible, details of the subject syllabus or appropriate evidence from the school / college / university or education authority offering the qualification. (You should note that we are satisfied that UK Level 2 Essential Skills, Key Skills or Functional Skills in Literacy / Communication or similar do meet the English Language criteria and are acceptable. Similarly UK Level 2 Essential Skills, Key Skills or Functional Skills in Numeracy or similar do meet the Maths criteria and are acceptable).
If you are intending to present qualifications studied in the Republic of Ireland, you should note that the most common equivalent qualification studied in the Republic of Ireland is the Leaving Certificate. The Leaving Certificate must be passed in at least 5 subjects, which must include English Language. In the case that you have other Irish qualifications other than a Leaving Certificate you will be required to prove equivalency. Please note, Junior Certificates sits just below the minimum threshold and cannot be considered.
If you are intending to present non-UK/ or Ireland qualifications, you must present a UK ENIC confirmation proving equivalency. Please now contact the UK ENIC - the UK national information centre for the recognition and evaluation of international qualifications and skills, and ask them to confirm that your non-UK/Ireland qualifications are equivalent to PSNI's requirements. There's a fee for this, which you must pay yourself. Further information is available via: https://enic.org.uk/Qualifications/SOC/Default.aspx. We recommend that you get a Statement of Comparability with (if applicable) Translation Waiver Service.
In exceptional cases where certificates are not available, formal written evidence from the relevant education / awarding body to prove that the qualification is equivalent may be considered. Written evidence must be verifiable by Deloitte and provided on the verifying organisation's headed documentation or via the organisation's email system.
(b). Right To Work
The following can be considered as evidence to prove your Right to Work in the UK:
I. A passport (current or expired) showing the holder is a British or Irish citizen - We just need to see evidence of the 'photo page'/ We strongly encourage you to keep things simple and, if you have a British or Irish passport., you provide us with evidence of it only, as this is likely to be at the most straightforward means to prove your Right to Work in the UK.
If you have dual / multiple citizenship, please simply select one qualifying passport and upload evidence of it. (Details of your citizenship will not be recorded during this exercise, only whether or not you have the Right to Work in the UK).
II. For British or Irish citizens with no passport; a long-form birth or adoption certificate issued in the UK or Ireland, together with an official document giving the person's permanent UK National Insurance number and their name issued by a government agency or a previous employer. (E.g., a P45, a P60, paperwork from the Jobs and Benefits office / HMRC, a payslip, your plastic National Insurance Card).
III. For international applicants (i.e., non-British or non-Irish citizens) a range of options are possible - we encourage you to check the options on the following webpages for a comprehensive list:
Often, international applicants provide us with a 'Share Code' to allow us to access their UK Visas & Immigration status details online. If you have a Share Code, please provide details of it.
IV. For applicants with complex cases or no evidence, please get in touch by email (before the deadline) and we will do our best to advise you. Please note however, that we cannot provide intensive individual support and the PSNI cannot sponsor applicants for employment to the role currently on offer. As we have provided forewarning of this Right to Work check earlier in this recruitment process, requests to extend the Right to Work check deadline will not be considered. We encourage you to be self-sufficient at this time and only contact us for support if the guidance provided does not provide answers.
(c). Driving Licence (non-mandatory request for evidence, where it exists)
For those for whom this request applies, (i.e. those who have a full valid Driving Licence), the following can be considered as evidence of having a Driving Licence:
- Please provide evidence of your full valid UK / NI Driving Licence. Please provide evidence of both the photo licence card and any paper licence counterpart (front and back of all applicable items).
- If you have an international Driving Licence, issued in a country outside of the UK, please provide all relevant documentation in relation to your Driving Licence.
- If you do have a Driving Licence, but are not currently in possession of it (or a part of it), please upload to your Evidence Uploader a note (e.g. typed or handwritten) outlining that you have a Driving Licence and a short explanation as to why you cannot currently provide evidence of it. (At this time, do not worry that you cannot provide evidence of your Driving Licence). This matter may be followed up on by PSNI HR at a later date in the recruitment process, and as such it will be in your interest to take action to replace or re-acquire your Driving Licence ahead of that time.
For those for whom this request does not apply, (i.e. those who do not have a Driving Licence, but who do have access to a form of personal transport that will enable them to meet the requirements of the post), it is not mandatory to provide evidence in relation to this matter now. For such applicants, this matter will be followed up upon at a later date, when the PSNI HR team may seek further details on how you plan to meet the criteria through the use of a form of personal transport.
What is not acceptable:
- With regard to both the Education Criteria and the Right To Work check, the following is not acceptable:
- Blurred evidence
- Unclear evidence
- Incomplete evidence
- Edited/tampered with evidence
- 'Cropped' evidence
- Password-protected evidence
- In addition, excessive evidence is not required. Please keep things straightforward and keep evidence uploaded to the minimum.
For the Education Criteria check, if you have GCSEs / equivalent and also have higher qualifications, we ONLY need to see evidence of the GCSEs in order to assess eligibility. We have no need to consider anything other than what covers you for 5 GCSEs including English and Maths (or equivalent). The process is not intended as an opportunity to log evidence of all your qualifications with PSNI.
For the Right to Work Check, please note this process is not intended as an opportunity to log evidence of all your identity documents.
- Requests for deadline extensions / exceptions cannot be considered. In exceptional cases where evidence is not available, please contact the Deloitte Recruitment Team at info@joinpsni.co.uk. Given that these eligibility criteria checks have been highlighted since the outset of this recruitment process, we anticipate evidence to be readily available and we appreciate your co-operation.
5. Format for upload
We require scans / pictures (e.g., taken on a mobile phone) / electronic documents to be uploaded. Acceptable file types are as follows: png / jpg / jpeg / doc / docx / pdf. You may upload up to 20 individual files. The total size of all files combined must be less than 20MB. We would appreciate it if you could compress the file-size of your items before upload.
The uploaded items must be clear and legible, in full-page format and presented 'face-up' and in 'right-way up' format (i.e., the top of the document must be visible at the top of the screen). It is preferred that uploaded items are in colour. Please keep the number of files you intend to upload to the minimum possible (e.g., by combining files into one document before upload). If you are presenting multiple page documents in separate files, the page number order must be clear to us.
6. Using the Evidence Uploader
Once you are ready to upload all necessary files, use the unique link you have been provided and visit your dedicated, personal Evidence Uploader webpage. Once on the page simply 'browse and find' or 'drag and drop' the files you wish to upload. Once the upload is complete you will see a message appear with a green background, as follows. Once you are happy that you have uploaded all the files needed, simply close your web browser or navigate off the page. Your files will automatically be saved against your record when the upload process is complete.
Please be aware that if you are attempting to upload multiple large file-size items at one time, it is important that you wait until all files are uploaded before closing / navigating away from the Uploader page. If the upload progress bar still shows green (as below), indicating 'in-progress', you must wait until the upload is complete. If the upload is taking an excessive period of time to complete, you may wish to restart your upload having compressed your file-size, or alternatively attempt the upload using a stronger / stable internet connection.
You will not receive an instantaneous email to confirm your upload, furthermore we will not be in a position to confirm receipt of uploaded files on an individual basis or discuss what has been uploaded during the uploader phase. Simply, upload your files and we will be in touch if / when we need to.
We recommend using your link only when you are ready to complete your upload in one sitting, however you may re-visit the same link to add files at a later date (before the deadline). If you log back into your link within the first few days after having uploaded files previously, they may still be visible. They will remain in-situ until Deloitte has processed them within our office. This is expected, so please don't worry - your files are securely stored. Equally, if upon return to your link, the original files are not visible, it is likely that Deloitte have processed and securely downloaded them within your office.
During the Evidence Uploader phase, there will be short periods of maintenance downtime. If you reach the Uploader webpage and you find that there is a message stating that it is temporarily unavailable or undergoing scheduled maintenance, you must not attempt to use the Uploader. In that case, the downtime will be short and unavoidable. We would ask for your co-operation and that case, the downtime will be short and unavoidable. We would ask for your co-operation and request that you simply visit and use the webpage later (before the deadline). In most cases if you return to the Uploader after one hour you find that it will be fully operational.
7. Planned process for review of Uploaded Evidence
We intend to start reviewing uploaded evidence immediately; however, you may not hear from us on this matter for some time. We would appreciate your patience. Given the volume of candidates, we will not engage in discussion on the status of individual cases. If, however we do contact you about the evidence you have presented it will be important that take all necessary action we suggest. Be aware that opportunities to resolve any issues will be limited and strictly time-bound.
If any follow-up is required, we intend to provide a very short window of opportunity in which to follow-up and finalise matters at that time. If we contact you, it is essential that you follow our instructions or risk being rejected from the recruitment process.
8. Integrity and reliability of the evidence presented
Processes are in place to monitor for forgery and fraudulent activity in respect of this process. Checks into the reliability and veracity of evidence presented will be conducted. If Deloitte cannot establish formal verification of evidence presented, the evidence under consideration will be rejected.
As part of the recruitment process, you may at a later date be asked to present original, paper-version documentation of the evidence you upload.
Your honesty and integrity are of paramount importance when participating in the evidence upload process. Any action that may be deemed contrary to PSNI's expectations in this regard could lead to the rejection of your application. If later, any evidence comes to light to prove that you acted in a fraudulent manner with regard to the presentation of evidence, you would be subject to the PSNI's internal disciplinary process and could be subject to dismissal.
9. Data security
Our systems have been tested and are secure. Your personal data will be securely stored and processed in a sensistive manner. Please see our Privacy Statement for further information on how we process your data.
Thank you for your co-operation