The executive leaders programme is an intensive course designed to shape the future of British policing
Senior officers graduate from executive leaders programme
Published on
News
3 mins read
Senior police officers from across the UK marked a significant milestone in their careers as they celebrated their graduation from the College's flagship executive leaders programme (ELP) on 4 July 2025.
The ceremony represented another successful cohort completing the rigorous 19-week programme, which has now prepared more than 160 senior leaders for executive positions.
The College has a mission focused on leadership, standards and performance. Today we're shining a light on our executive leaders programme – not just as a training course, but as a vital strategic investment that prepares policing leaders of the future. This programme equips senior officers with the skills, knowledge and resilience needed to deliver the high standard of policing leadership that the public expects and deserves."
Chief Constable Sir Andy Marsh, CEO College of Policing
Enhancing leadership
The executive leaders programme forms a central pillar of the College's strategy to enhance leadership development across policing. As part of the five-stage police leadership programme delivered by the College's National Centre for Police Leadership (NCPL), the ELP specifically targets those ready to step into chief officer positions.
The absolute focus throughout the executive leadership programme is delivering better policing for our communities. That's why we exist as policing.
So right from day one on the course, where we start looking at our own personal leadership style, all the time we're coming back to delivering better service to our communities. And we know trust and confidence in policing has been impacted, which for me is why police leadership is so critical.
I think the programme itself is so comprehensive. It's quite a journey of different things throughout the year. There's a lot around personal growth. You spend a lot of time thinking about what you bring to policing and why is that important?
What is it about you and your values and your leadership style that would make you successful in taking on really difficult challenges?
Now coming into module three, I have a sense of readiness to take on a big challenge, like the new job that I've just been successful in.
A police leader of the future has got a really good understanding of themselves, you know, understands their values and what makes them tick, but they've got to be able to be seen as honest, open, fair, able to communicate. They've got to be approachable. They've also got to have really good business acumen, which is probably something that is different compared to police leadership in the past.
So the knowledge that we've had gives us, you know, a baseline, gives us something to go with because the really kind of nuanced and niche areas of executive leadership that the programme has delivered for us as a cohort have been really tremendous.
But I think being in a room with fifty colleagues from across policing, across the UK and beyond, has provided a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, because I've been told that you'll never do anything like this again. So take as much as you can from this opportunity, and I've got to say that that's got to be my biggest takeaway.
You know, the friendships that I have made over the past few months while being on this programme, I know will stand the test of time and have already proved their worth when we've been back in force.
What our delegates get exposed to is the very best police leaders, the very best leaders across the public sector, across government, across academia, and internationally renowned private sector leaders as well.
It's about taking what you hear here and how do you operationalise that? How do you make the difference within your own organisation?
Everything that we've done has been around getting us ready for leading across forces at a really strategic level and understanding the complexities and the sort of cogs that make policing work.
The opportunities that I've had to reach out into other people has meant that I've been able to go back to force and really question is the way that we're doing this really the most efficient and effective? And are there practices from other colleagues across the country and internationally that means we can be doing this better?
I think the course stretches you. So I think however much you think you know and how much experience you have in the role that you have, you never know everything.
So I think coming on this course gives you the opportunity to listen to lots of experts, lots of professionals who've got a really broad range of experiences and it also give you a chance to meet loads and loads of people from all over the country and internationally where you can learn so much. That then gives you the ability to go back to your own force and actually be a better version of yourself.
The evolution of police leadership is essential in meeting the challenges facing the wider service today. These graduates are already applying their learning to tackle complex issues in their forces and to tackle these challenges head on. The depth of talent in this cohort gives me enormous confidence in the future of British policing."
Chief Constable Sir Stephen Watson, Service Director
Skills in action
Several graduates showcased how they've applied their learning in real-world settings. One explained how leadership skills gained from the programme transformed their force's approach to neighbourhood policing. Another graduate demonstrated how adopting a collaborative systems approach led to a reduction in drug-related deaths while addressing wider implications for communities and crime reduction.
The absolute focus throughout the executive leaders programme is delivering better policing for all communities. From day one on the course our delegates get exposed to the very best leaders across policing, the public sector, government, academia and internationally renowned private sector leaders as well.
It's about taking what you learn here and how you operationalise that, and make the difference within your own organisation. All the time, we come back to how we deliver better service to our communities."
Chief Constable Serena Kennedy, ELP Cohort Director
Investing in new leaders
The ELP is open to substantive superintendents, chief superintendents, equivalent-grade police staff, and aspiring executives from international and partner agencies, creating diverse cohorts that reflect modern policing needs.
The National Centre for Police Leadership continues to invest in leadership development at all levels, ensuring a strong pipeline of talent from frontline officers through to chief constables. This comprehensive approach means the College of Policing is actively nurturing leadership capabilities across the entire policing family, including officers, staff and volunteers.
As the latest graduates return to their forces, they join a growing network of alumni who are transforming policing leadership across the UK, applying cutting-edge approaches to increasingly complex challenges while maintaining the core values of cutting crime, keeping people safe and service to communities.
Find out more
If you are a chief officer or working towards this stage in your career, go to development for executive leaders to find out more about leadership standards and progression opportunities.
