Police Ranks in the UK: Every Rank in Order, with Insignia and Pay

Police ranks in England and Wales are fixed by law. Regulation 4 of the Police Regulations 2003 lists nine for a territorial force, from constable to chief constable, with different titles at the top for the Metropolitan Police and the City of London Police. This guide puts every rank in order with its insignia and pay range, explains the detective prefix and the London differences, and shows how promotion works, including the two exams that gate the move to sergeant and to inspector.

Whatever their rank, every officer holds the office of constable. Powers of arrest, search and seizure come from that office, not from rank. Rank decides responsibility and who can authorise certain powers.

British police ranks in order

The table lists the ranks from lowest to highest, as they apply in most forces in England and Wales. Insignia are worn on the epaulettes (shoulder boards). They are set by force dress codes rather than legislation, so details such as colours and the shoulder number format vary between forces.

Rank	Usual abbreviation	Insignia	Typical role
Constable	PC (DC for detectives)	Shoulder (collar) number only	Response, neighbourhood, investigation
Sergeant	PS or Sgt (DS)	Three chevrons above the shoulder number	First-line supervisor of a team; custody sergeant
Inspector	Insp (DI)	Two four-pointed stars ("pips")	Leads a shift or unit; reviews detention
Chief inspector	CI or Ch Insp (DCI)	Three pips	Runs a department or area function
Superintendent	Supt (D/Supt)	A crown	Commands a district or major function
Chief superintendent	Ch Supt (DCS)	A crown above one pip	Leads a division or command
Assistant chief constable	ACC	Crossed tipstaves in a wreath	Chief officer with a portfolio
Deputy chief constable	DCC	A pip above crossed tipstaves in a wreath	Second in command; often leads professional standards
Chief constable	CC	A crown above crossed tipstaves in a wreath	Head of the force

Key fact: The three ranks from assistant chief constable upwards are the "chief officer" ranks. Chief officers are appointed rather than promoted through the national exams, and their pay is set through a separate review body from the federated ranks.

Federated, superintending and chief officer ranks

Police pay and representation split the ranks into three groups:

• Federated ranks: constable, sergeant, inspector and chief inspector, represented by the Police Federation.
• Superintending ranks: superintendent and chief superintendent, represented by the Police Superintendents' Association.
• Chief officers: assistant chief constable and above.

Sergeants and constables are entitled to overtime; the inspecting ranks are not. That difference matters when you compare take-home pay across the step from sergeant to inspector.

Police ranks UK pay ranges

Basic pay for each rank is set nationally. The figures below are the scales in force from 1 September 2025, as set out in Appendix F of the Police Remuneration Review Body's 2026 report. The government then awarded a 3.5% rise to every pay point from 1 September 2026.

Rank	Pay points	Basic pay from 1 Sept 2025
Constable (joined on or after 1 April 2013)	1 to 7	£31,164 to £50,256
Sergeant	2 to 4	£53,568 to £56,208
Inspector	0 to 3	£63,768 to £68,982
Inspector (London)	0 to 3	£66,462 to £71,697
Chief inspector	1 to 3	£70,344 to £73,149
Chief inspector (London)	1 to 3	£73,062 to £75,855
Superintendent	1 to 4	£84,177 to £99,015
Chief superintendent	1 to 3	£103,797 to £115,785

Officers move up one pay point a year if they meet the pay progression standard. London Weighting and the London and South East allowances are paid on top in eligible forces. For what this means at the first promotion, see our police sergeant pay guide.

Detective ranks

"Detective" is a prefix, not a rank. Officers in CID and other investigative units add it to their rank title:

Uniform rank	Detective title
Constable	Detective constable (DC)
Sergeant	Detective sergeant (DS)
Inspector	Detective inspector (DI)
Chief inspector	Detective chief inspector (DCI)
Superintendent	Detective superintendent
Chief superintendent	Detective chief superintendent (DCS)

A detective constable is paid on the constable scale and holds the same powers as a uniformed constable. What changes is the role and the training: detectives are accredited under the Professionalising Investigations Programme (PIP), and the entry point for most is PIP2, which needs a pass in the National Investigators' Exam. Our guide on how to become a detective covers the routes in.

Detectives follow the same promotion path as everyone else. A DC who wants to become a DS sits the sergeants' exam like any other constable.

Key fact: A trainee detective constable (TDC) is a constable working towards PIP2 accreditation. The "trainee" label is a role status, not a rank.

Met police ranks and the City of London

Regulation 4 sets different titles for the two London forces above chief superintendent.

Metropolitan Police Service

From chief superintendent upwards, the Met has five ranks instead of three:

1. Commander
2. Deputy assistant commissioner
3. Assistant commissioner
4. Deputy commissioner
5. Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis

A Met commander wears the same insignia as an assistant chief constable elsewhere, a deputy assistant commissioner the same as a deputy chief constable and an assistant commissioner the same as a chief constable. The two most senior Met ranks add further insignia above that.

City of London Police

The City of London Police replaces the three chief constable ranks with commander and assistant commissioner, and is led by a commissioner.

Other forces

National forces such as the British Transport Police, the Ministry of Defence Police and the Civil Nuclear Constabulary use broadly the same rank names, though some differ in detail and are governed by their own legislation.

How promotion works between police ranks

Promotion is not automatic, and the first two steps are the hardest because they need a national legal exam.

Constable to sergeant

Under regulation 3 of the Police (Promotion) Regulations 1996, a constable is qualified for promotion once they have passed the qualifying assessment, completed two years' service and completed probation. In England and Wales the route is the National Police Promotion Framework (NPPF):

1. Step one: your force confirms you are competent in your rank and have no live performance or conduct warnings.
2. Step two: you pass the sergeants' legal exam: 150 questions in 3 hours, pass mark 55%.
3. Step three: you are selected against the rank's competencies and matched to a vacancy.
4. Step four: you complete 12 months of temporary promotion and a work-based assessment before you are made substantive.

Sergeant to inspector

The same four steps apply, with the inspectors' exam at step two (pass mark 65%). The regulations require two years' service as a sergeant before substantive promotion to inspector. The full process is on our NPPF step 2 guide, and the College sets out the exam rules in its NPPF step two candidate handbook.

Above inspector

There is no national legal exam above inspector. Promotion to chief inspector, superintendent and chief superintendent is through each force's selection process, usually an application, an assessment and an interview. Candidates for chief officer posts normally complete the College of Policing's Strategic Command Course first. Some forces have also run direct entry programmes that bring people in at inspector level.

Exam tip: The sergeants' and inspectors' exams test the same three Blackstone's manuals, but the pass mark rises from 55% to 65%. If you plan to go on to inspector, revise for sergeant as if you were aiming for 65%. It makes the second exam far easier.

Which powers depend on rank

Every officer is a constable, but some decisions are reserved by statute to an officer of at least a stated rank. These rank thresholds are a favourite source of exam questions, because the wrong option usually names the rank one step too low.

Decision	Minimum rank	Source
Acting as custody officer at a designated police station	Sergeant	s.36 PACE
Reviewing detention before charge	Inspector, not directly involved in the investigation	s.40 PACE
Authorising detention beyond 24 hours (up to 36) for an indictable offence	Superintendent	s.42 PACE
Authorising a road check	Superintendent (a lower rank in urgent cases, with a superintendent told)	s.4 PACE
Authorising stop and search without suspicion in a locality	Inspector	s.60 Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994
Authorising dispersal powers in a locality	Inspector	s.34 Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014

Each power has further conditions (time limits, who must be told, written records) that the exam also tests. Our law guides cover them in detail, and you can practise them in the police powers quiz.

The highest police rank in the UK

Each force is led by its own chief officer, and there is no single national head of policing. In most forces that is the chief constable. The Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis leads the largest force in the country and is usually regarded as the most senior police officer in the UK. National coordination runs through the National Police Chiefs' Council, which is chaired by a serving chief officer.

Police ranks in Scotland and Northern Ireland

• Police Scotland uses the same rank titles from constable to chief constable, with assistant chief constables and deputy chief constables in its chief officer team. Promotion and pay follow Scottish arrangements, not the NPPF or the England and Wales pay scales.
• The Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) uses the same ranks as a force in England and Wales, from constable to chief constable. It runs its own promotion process.

The College of Policing's sergeants' and inspectors' exams described on this site apply to forces in England and Wales.

Special constables

Special constables are volunteer officers with the full powers of a constable. Many forces give specials their own grading structure (for example, special sergeant or special inspector) for supervisory roles. These grades are set locally, so check your force's own scheme.

Your revision plan

If you are reading this because you are thinking about your first promotion, here is what to do next:

1. Check you meet step one with your line manager.
2. Take the free sergeants' diagnostic to see where you stand against the 55% pass mark, or the inspectors' diagnostic if you are already a sergeant.
3. Sit a free full-length mock under timed conditions: sergeants' mock 1 or inspectors' mock 1.
4. Heading for CID instead? Start with the free NIE diagnostic.

Every guide on the site, including the law guides that map to the exam syllabus, is listed on the guides page. This is an independent revision site, not affiliated with the College of Policing or any force.