Sources

Every figure on this site, with where it comes from.

• Police: 9,240 FTE officers left in the year to March 2026, about 25 a day (our own sum); voluntary resignation was 51.4% of leavers; 60.6% of those who resigned had less than five years' service. Home Office, Police workforce, England and Wales: 31 March 2026.
• Police pay from 1 September 2025: constables £31,164 to £50,256, sergeants £53,568 to £56,208, inspectors £63,768 to £68,982 (published pay scales for England and Wales). A 3.5% award applies from 1 September 2026 (Police Professional, confirmed by written ministerial statement, 15 July 2026); the 2026 figures on Future opportunities (constable top about £52,000, sergeant top about £58,200, inspector top about £71,400) are our own calculation.
• NHS pay from 1 April 2026: band 7 £49,387 to £56,515; band 8a £57,528 to £64,750. NHS Employers, Agenda for Change pay scales 2026. NHS counter fraud specialists are usually band 7; emergency preparedness managers band 8a (for example Avon and Wiltshire Mental Health Partnership NHS Trust, January 2026).
• Security Industry Authority, Martyn's Law: senior inspector £49,251 to £58,500; inspector £38,401 to £41,900; both with a civil service pension. SIA adverts, May 2026. Martyn's Law enforcement expected from spring 2027: Get Licensed, 2026.
• Building safety manager £65,154 and senior building safety manager £75,362: One Manchester adverts, February 2026.
• Business continuity manager £56,071 to £72,802: London Fire Brigade advert via NFCC, January 2026.
• Local Authority Designated Officer £58,461 to £61,653: Royal Borough of Greenwich advert, May 2026.
• Investigations officer, London: £50,000 to £70,000 with three to five years' experience; £70,000 to £90,000 with more. Morgan McKinley salary guide 2026.
• Financial crime, London: AML and KYC analyst £32,000 to £52,000; specialist financial crime analyst £48,000 to £68,000; financial crime manager £68,000 to £95,000; regional salaries often 20 to 35% lower. FD Capital compliance salary guide, 2026 (recruiter placement data).
• Police staff investigators through agencies: PIP1 £17.42 and PIP2 £19.19 an hour. Red Snapper Recruitment advert on Police Oracle, July 2026.
• Police leaver rate: 6.3% of officers left in the year to March 2026 (145,886 FTE officers at 31 March 2026); about 1 in 16 is our rounding. Same Home Office source as above.
• Fire: 3,814 staff left fire and rescue services in England in the year to March 2025, 8.5% of headcount at the start of the year (about 1 in 12, our rounding); resignation was 65% of on-call firefighter leavers. Home Office, Fire and rescue workforce and pensions statistics, England, year ending March 2025.
• Ambulance: the leaver rate for ambulance staff was 10.3% in the year to June 2022 (NHS Workforce Statistics); over a quarter of paramedics wanted to leave as soon as they could find another job (NHS Staff Survey 2021). Nuffield Trust, Feeling blue: the experiences of ambulance staff.
• Barred list and advisory list: who is placed on each, which bodies must check them, how long entries last. College of Policing, Barred list.
• Police pensions when leaving early: 2015 scheme pensions deferred to State Pension age if you leave before 55, with early payment from 55 at a reduction; different rules for the 1987 and 2006 schemes. Police Federation, Pension exit points.
• LinkedIn guide: LinkedIn Help, letting recruiters know you are open to work; LinkedIn's use of member data for generative AI and the opt-out setting, TechRadar.
• Working for yourself: Police Regulations 2003, regulation 7, business interests; GOV.UK, Making Tax Digital thresholds; the £1,000 trading allowance; GOV.UK, Apply for a Start Up Loan.
• Ambulance destinations: emergency and community practitioner, Band 7, £49,387 to £56,515, Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS Trust advert, 2026; PIP paramedic functional assessor, HCPC registration and a year's post-registration experience, Maximus advert, 2025; research paramedic, Band 6, South Central Ambulance Service advert, 2026. The Ambulance Staff Charity eligibility: TASC, who we help.
• Gaps and difficult questions: Acas, What employers can say in a reference; Equality and Human Rights Commission, Pre-employment health questions; Police (Conduct) Regulations 2020, regulation 7; TUC, The right to be accompanied.
• Using AI in applications: DWP AI candidate guide; The Royal Household, Using AI tools in your application; Prospects, AI, CVs and applications (April 2026). 73% of hiring managers said they can spot AI-created CVs or cover letters; 35% said AI use would count against a candidate: Robert Walters survey, reported by Business News Wales, May 2025.
• Fire and rescue pay from 1 July 2026 (firefighter £31,539 to £40,358; crew manager £42,892 to £44,742; watch manager £45,711 to £50,034; station manager £52,040 to £57,402): FBU, pay settlement 2026.
• Ambulance pay: NHS Agenda for Change bands 4 to 7 from April 2026, NHS Employers. Bands vary between trusts for some roles. GP practice paramedic £40,000 to £45,000: advert, February 2026. Lecturer in paramedic science £38,784 to £43,482: advert, September 2026. Air ambulance critical care paramedic £55,177 to £60,480: advert, 2025. Police custody healthcare £41,000: advert, March 2026. Health assessments £39,000 to £46,575: advert, March 2026. Advanced paramedic, urgent care £51,883 to £58,544: advert, 2025.
• Fire destinations: fire risk assessor £40,000 to £65,000 with experience, Prospects; breathing apparatus trainer £43,255 to £44,941, advert, March 2026.
• Fire pensions when leaving early: LPPA, short guide to the 2015 Firefighters' Pension Scheme. NHS pensions when leaving early: NHS Business Services Authority, Leaving early guide.
• Fire conduct: no national barred list; consultation on a College of Fire and Rescue, May to July 2026, GOV.UK; standard criminal record checks since July 2023, Fire Safety Matters. Paramedic fitness to practise outcomes: HCPC. NHS references and pre-employment checks: NHS Employers.
• Three in four police leavers said their force gave no support when they left; 96% wanted structured support. Oscar Kilo, National Police Wellbeing Service, leavers survey 2024 (163 respondents).
• Fewer than half of leavers (43.2%) were in the role or industry they had aimed for; about one in six (17.3%) had returned to policing in a civilian or contracted role; 51.0% said they needed help writing a CV; 58.1% found work through existing networks. Jones, Hesketh and Noble (2025), national survey of police leavers, Policing: A Journal of Policy and Practice (163 respondents).
• Leavers describe no CV help, no careers advice and no help translating police skills into civilian roles. Vaportzis and Edwards, The Beat Goes On, Policing and Society, July 2026, as reported by Police Professional.
• Pay ranges on Future opportunities come from individual job adverts (including the IOPC, NHS Jobs, HMRC, councils and private employers) and National Careers Service job profiles, checked October 2026. They are a guide only and change over time.

Last checked 26 October 2026. Home Office figures are updated each year.