The Sergeant and Inspector Promotion and Progression (SIPP) scheme is coming to your force.
It has not yet been evaluated whether it is good or bad. Indeed, SIPP is still only in the testing and evidence-gathering phase, while small, variable trials are still in progress. Whether SIPP is any good has been declared as redundant; it will be replacing the NPPF and will be rolled out across forces in England and Wales… ASAP.
But then something else entirely is going to get designed from scratch and replace that!
So, if you’re an aspiring police Constable or Sergeant looking to progress your career via promotion to the next rank over the next couple of years, you will shortly be navigating a different route to promotion – SIPP. It’s more complex, more intense and involves more academia. And it’s coming to all forces in 2027…
“There is nothing bad in undergoing change, or good in emerging from it.” – Marcus Aurelius
Quick Recap on SIPP…
I have been reporting on SIPP since it was originally proposed in 2023. Despite it representing a seismic shift in the police promotion landscape, information about the scheme is closely guarded by the College. Only targeted FOI requests from Rank Success have forced the reluctant release of key details about the scheme.
If the SIPP scheme so good, fairer, more consistent, and more straightforward process, why the long-term secrecy on the details? This unfortunate minimalist communication strategy has plagued SIPP and the College from the outset, while creating massive uncertainty for the officers affected (who Rank Success continues to support).
Through my Rank Success blog, podcast and video series, I’ve been providing the most comprehensive content about the SIPP scheme available anywhere (including that coming from the College itself). This has all culminated in my comprehensive SIPP FAQs blog, which I keep updated with the trials and tribulations of how SIPP seems to be morphing and meandering over time.
I do all this is work around supporting officers with rank-specific promotion and leadership toolkits and 1-1 coaching for more bespoke or force-specific processes. If you find it helpful, please consider becoming a podcast subscriber at (still) £4.99 per month to support my work. You’ll also get access to well over 100 premium police promotion and leadership podcasts!
If you want to catch up with what’s been going on, here’s my prior SIPP blogs to date:
- Police Legal Exam Faces Axe in New ‘SIPP’ Promotion Process… Yes, the original plan was to remove the legal exam entirely, because it was seen as a key barrier to some candidates from underrepresented groups.
- NPPF v SIPP Promotion Update: College Postpone Process (for Most!)… Did you know, the College’s original plan for SIPP rollout was 2024, and the first formal communication about SIPP was late 2023? I shared views, frustrations and observations officers were raising to Rank Success and on social media platforms about the lack of any consultation.
- Future Promotion Process: Forces Withdraw from College SIPP Trials… By May 2024, half the forces originally earmarked to enter the ‘iteratively changing’ trial scheme had pulled out. No reasons were provided, and the can was kicked further down the road.
- SIPP Promotion FAQs Answered… In late 2024, I published the most comprehensive information on the SIPP scheme available anywhere, largely in response to all the questions I was getting from bewildered cops. I still keep this updated and distil this resource with new information on the why, when, what, how, who and so on of SIPP.
- SIPP: Doomed to Succeed? In October 2025, I expanded on my original 2024 question of whether SIPP is doomed to succeed. Included here is more detail on the SIPP 4,500-word thesis I’d been helping several officers with at the time and how the SIPP exam compared to the NPPF exam success rates.
As I write this sixth blog, SIPP has been officially endorsed “to succeed” the NPPF asap, but with a twist; it’s doomed to fail shortly thereafter…
SIPP Officially Endorsed (Without Evidence)
“What can be asserted without evidence can also be dismissed without evidence.” – Hitchen’s Razor
In my first publication of my SIPP FAQs blog in November 2024, I predicted SIPP as being one of those pieces of police change that is “doomed to succeed”. In a Policing Insight interview about promotion reform published a couple of months later, the College’s Interim Deputy CEO Jo Noakes refuted this assessment, declaring that SIPP was “genuinely not one of those that is doomed to succeed”.
“I think promotion reform has got the potential to be bigger than the reform around [degree entry] recruitment, so really going into it cautiously and taking stakeholders with us, is really important.” – Jo Noakes
Later in 2025, it seemed SIPP was indeed heading that way, despite half of forces backing out from the trials, massive discrepancies with its original objectives (simpler, quicker, fairer, less barriers), and inconsistent approaches in the remaining trial forces making meaningful evaluation impossible. The sunk costs and energy were clearly too far gone to dare revisit the drawing board of police promotion.
They were at least going to make it appear as though the change was evidenced based, despite SIPP having no EIA, nor tangible theories or hypotheses as to exactly how and why things might be fairer, more accessible, and simpler under this new, slowly morphing scheme.
The plan (until recently) was to complete their variable and ‘iterative’ trials of its SIPP scheme among the five forces, then review the evidence of how it all went towards the end of 2026. The College would then put a report and recommendations forward to the NPCC, who would rubber stamp it as a viable replacement to the NPPF for all forces. No doubt anecdotal experiences of some officers who liked the approach would be part of its launch marketing.
But that’s now all been blown out of the water. SIPP has been given the green light to replace NPPF, as one of the bombshells dropped by the Leadership Commission. No evaluation or analysis necessary, regardless of whether it’s deemed good or bad. Just do it. And do it “ASAP”.
SIPP is therefore officially confirmed as the NPPF’s replacement, regardless of whether it’s any good. But only temporarily. How do I know this? Because it’s one of the core recommendations in the 2026 Police Leadership Commission report. As one of the bombshell leadership changes, Recommendation 14 sets out:
“Promotion to sergeant and inspector should be reformed to equip these ranks with the knowledge and confidence to lead teams and serve the public, use frontline leadership talent to the full, and support the talent pipeline… The reforms should build on the sergeant and inspector promotion process currently being tested in five forces and should be rolled out nationally as soon as possible, as an interim measure, before a full re-engineering of the promotion process and content of leadership development materials.”
Interim measure. Full re-engineering of promotion process and leadership materials. That sounds like a lot of work for the College to get its teeth into over the next few years, as it shapeshifts in the interim into a new guise within the National Academy of Police Leadership (Recommendation 24). The Commission’s report further states…
“78% of sergeants and 64% of inspectors responding to our survey disagreed that the [promotion] processes identified officers who go on to be effective in the role. And yet the service has not been able to deliver reforms… the [SIPP] reforms currently being piloted do not provide the reengineering of the promotion process that is desperately needed. Urgent and fundamental reform of the promotions process at sergeant and inspector level is required.”
And look what else is recommended here. A new definition of police leadership and therefore behavioural framework for promotion assessment (another bombshell which in effect means the CVF and all the College’s ‘Leadership Standards’ days are numbered). More use of PDRs in promotion. Moving and modernising the legal exam. Abolishing temporary promotion. And centralising promotion decisions, i.e. with the College, not forces.
The Leadership Commission report landed for the general public in early July, with the College, Home Office, NPCC et al. receiving their advance copies at the end of June. This timing coincided with the College opening a survey to glean feedback from SIPP candidates themselves.
This survey was the first attempt the College made to gather evidence on whether SIPP felt fair, understandable, and relevant to those undertaking the scheme at various stages. This evidence might have been useful to objectively assess whether SIPP is meeting its objectives and was worthy of rolling out nationally, were the decision not already made.
Long Live SIPP… for a While at Least!
“The NPPF is dead. Long Live SIPP.”
It is likely to be challenging for forces to simply switch from NPPF to SIPP. It took years for the change from the 2016 CVF to the 2024 CVF. And that wasn’t even much of a change! Some forces still haven’t done so completely. For example, I’ve recently supported clients who have been provided with CVF criteria from 2016!
That said, it’s clear the NPPF is dead in the water. SIPP is the new kid on the block. If you’re an aspiring police promotion candidate, I encourage you to get up to speed with SIPP expectations ASAP. At Rank Success, I’ve provided lots of resources to help in this endeavour, completely free.
But if you’re wondering whether to wait for SIPP implementation before going for or preparing for promotion, I’d say don’t wait. Start now. Go for it. Don’t put your career on hold for abstract uncertainties.
Please get in touch if you want support, I offer 30 minutes free coaching off the bat. And if you receive any useful, sharable information about the scheme from your HR dept or the College, please let me know too. I’m always keen to learn and keep the FAQs updated for aspiring officers.
One of the things I’m learning from candidates directly, is that SIPP is looking and feeling like a monster to the officers involved…
What’s That Coming Over the Hill, Is SIPP a Monster?
“Oh, that darn paperwork! Wouldn’t it be easier if it all just blew away?” – Mike Wazowski
SIPP is another seismic change to police promotion and leadership selection in England and Wales. This iteration of leadership selection creates an objectively far more academic and complex process for forces and candidates alike. However, as with the NPPF it has the CVF in common as part of the main assessment criteria. As it happens, I’ve always encouraged serious candidates to learn to love the CVF ever since it was first implemented.
Of note with SIPP is the CVF based application process, which is akin to a university dissertation and has been described as “monstrous” by officers. As a coach, I pick up on that kind of powerful language! So what does the SIPP application involve? Here’s a recent snapshot received from a candidate in the trials:
“It’s being trialled by about 3 forces, but I and others have been pushed onto this journey away from the NPPF and it’s a complete cluster. SIPP came in last year and with the current workload as temp rank on shift, it has taken its toll and I’m not the only one. The whole process seems so subjective from the monstrous nine written pieces of evidence to pass – to get to interview. Even selecting evidence from your written application to take into interview to use to answer the pre released competency headings… leaves you scoring less than when they were written.”
The SIPP application is clearly a significant undertaking for time-poor frontline officers. The requirement is 500 words of example evidence aligned to each of the six CVF 2024 competencies and three values in the Police Code of Ethics. This amounts to 4,500 words; an academic dissertation! Then add in all the online leadership modules, writing out evidence, learning and assessments throughout, it feels like being thrown into more academia and paperwork around your day job.
Oh, and it all centres around your line manager, a pivotal point reintroduced for SIPP; the role of the line manager got sidelined when NPPF was introduced because of fears about lack of fairness or favouritism. So to those wishing SIPP would hurry along as something different to the NPPF: Be careful what you wish for!
Might the College’s new dissertation-style application form already be a new barrier for some individuals, especially as forces are starting to recognise a lack of reading and writing skills among newer officers?
SIPP application forms are already proving problematic. The College describes adjustments where things aren’t working as “iterative development” of its 18-month trials. Others suggest this looks like “making it up as you go along” and would be impossible to evaluate the effectiveness of something which was never consistently applied and done with too few trial participants in the first place.
Rank Success always has an ear to the ground. Intelligence from forces suggests for example…
- In one force, all SIPP Inspector candidates failed the application form.
- Scoring of submitted applications sidelined and all candidates being put through to interview anyway, regardless of how good (or otherwise) their SIPP application was.
- SIPP and NPPF running parallel in one force with small cohort numbers on each, with both completing separate application forms. However, the marking criteria was relaxed for the SIPP applications, so more from that side get through to the interview stage.
In the postcode lottery of promotion, some forces have ‘done away’ with promotion applications completely. This followed representations and objections from officers and the Police Federation, questioning the relevance of such written assessments. Other forces have ditched interviews as part of promotion following objections. The Met Police have recently trialled gamification and more scenario-based assessments. All these local processes will still happen within SIPP.
There is no perfect police promotion process, if there was, you’d know about it and probably wouldn’t be reading this.
SIPP the Stopgap…
As luck would have it, the 2026 Leadership Review came along to rescue SIPP in the nick of time. The Review recommended that SIPP be adopted temporarily; before being laid to rest along with the NPPF, OSPRE and previous iterations of promotion selection and leadership development processes (all of which had their defenders and detractors).
It would have been interesting to have seen some of the SIPP pilot evaluations and evidence play out. But evidence is all academic now that it has been decreed SIPP should succeed, ASAP. The upheaval, costs and work now facing forces to implement SIPP, purely as a stopgap for a few years at most, serves to anoint SIPP as a successful trial.
I was asked why I describe SIPP as being doomed to succeed. It is an ironic expression to describe a situation where success is so inevitable and unavoidable, it feels like an inescapable fate. SIPP is destined for triumph, albeit we now know it will be only a short-term victory.
In the interim, civil servants are working to transfer the College of Policing’s responsibilities into the National Police Service (NPS). As such, SIPP will get to live just long enough to be deemed a success, before being replaced with whatever comes next.
The NPPF may not be perfect. But SIPP clearly doesn’t appear to be either.
Future Focus: Getting Ahead of the Curve
“We find ourselves in a river. Which of the things around us should we value when none of them can offer a firm foothold?” – Marcus Aurelius
Turning to the immediate future for aspiring promotion candidates, getting match fit ahead of any promotion opportunity is a choice. This ‘interim’ NPPF then SIPP period means raising your awareness of SIPP, closing your knowledge gaps and building your confidence, from today, must be part of your plan.
Preparation is key. I encourage all aspiring candidates to learn that simple lesson in advance. It’s one taken on board by hundreds of successful police promotion candidates I’ve supported over the last 14 years.
Change can be unsettling and going for promotion is daunting. Using the National Decision Model is one way to think through your approach to promotion, helping to reduce uncertainty you may have around the NPPF ceasing, SIPP being implemented, then another new process pending a few years later.
Rank Success has been on point over recent years with many of the issues alluded to in the Leadership Commission’s Report. For example, there’s tons of bespoke free blogs to support you as an aspiring officer. These include topics such as:
- Police PDRs
- CPD as a ‘Killer Question’ on promotion boards
- Wellbeing and your resilience to operate as an effective leader
- Changing police culture in a positive, meaningful and tangible way, beyond the abstract hype and talk about ‘culture’
- Thinking strategically when seeking to step up
- Recognising the VUCA world world policing exists in, and still volunteering to lead others in that kind of environment
“Hi Steve, just wanted to let you know I passed my Inspector board. I managed to get full marks. Thank you for your support and taking the time to signpost me to all the material I needed. It without doubt helped me in my final prep. Take care and I will always recommend people to your material. Thank you” – Tom
Rank Success puts cops ahead of the curve. An anchor in a sea of change, offering reassurance, stability and quiet encouragement for officers looking to navigate their own force process. As with previous processes, SIPP will be competitive, so turning the odds in your favour is one action you can take today.
Rank Success levels the playing field of promotion. My affordable rank-specific toolkits are transferable to any force process and behavioural framework. These include specific, detailed examples of promotion evidence to support your thinking and approach when drafting your own SIPP (or NPPF) promotion application evidence, or making your leadership experiences more tangible. My structured examples are generally at CVF Level 2 and reflect the level of expectation at the rank aspired to.
For more tailored support, my 1-1 coaching provides bespoke assistance, and is discounted for those who purchase my downloadable materials. If you’re needing more help in relation to what you face in your force, I offer a 30-minute free coaching call, no strings, so why not get in touch?
You’ll also find completely free guidance, insights and tips across my blogs, videos and podcasts, including interviews with senior police leaders.
However you choose to get ahead of the curve and make the prospect of promotion less daunting, I wish you the very best in your career.
Kind Regards, Steve
Seeking police promotion? Want a MASSIVE head start right now and a focus on what matters? Hit the ground running with my great value digital promotion toolkits, and/or my market-leading Police Promotion Masterclass, seminars and CVF explainers. There’s nothing else like it to effectively prepare you for success and level the playing field of promotion. My timeless methods translate to all UK promotion processes. Any questions? Get in touch for a free call or to arrange more personal coaching support tailored to your specific force process. Tune in to my extensive podcast for regular powerful leadership CPD and promotion insights.
