The ICT Training Unit at Avon and Somerset Constabulary obtained accreditation from the BCS (British Computer Society) as an ECDL (European Computer Driving Licence) Test Centre in 2005 and offers the opportunity for all staff to achieve the full ECDL qualification. At our last audit by the BCS we were awarded Grade A status.

For the last couple of years we have been focusing on the IT skills of student officers by making it a requirement of their probationary period to achieve the ECDL Essentials Certificate. This is because the national syllabus for student officers (the Initial Police Learning and Development Programme - IPLDP) states that they must prove their ability in the operation of information technology systems. All new police officers are now required to show that they have knowledge and competence in the following areas:

• Computer hardware
• Computer health and safety
• Computer security and the law
• Basic operations (eg using a mouse, printing)
• Organising files
• Copying, moving and deleting files
• Using the Internet
• Sending and receiving e-mail

Modules 1, 2 and 7 of the full suite of seven ECDL modules cover the above knowledge skills. On completion of these modules, the students obtain the ECDL Essentials Certificate.