What does STANCE stand for in police promotion boards?

STANCE stands for Situation, Take a position, Assessment, Navigate the options, Cost and risk, End with impact. It is a six-step presentation framework developed by State6, built on the Minto Pyramid Principle. The key principle is stating your recommendation in the second step, before building the evidence for it.

What is the CVF 2024?

The CVF 2024 is the Competency and Values Framework, updated by the College of Policing in May 2024. It is the behavioural framework police promotion panels use to score candidates, made up of six competencies (We Are Emotionally Aware, We Take Ownership, We Collaborate, We Support and Inspire, We Analyse Critically, We Are Innovative and Open-Minded) and three values (Courage, Respect and Empathy, Public Service).

What is STARR in a police promotion board?

STARR stands for Situation, Task, Action, Result, Reflection. It is the standard answer structure for behavioural questions at a UK police promotion board — questions that begin 'Tell me about a time when...' The Reflection step is the most commonly omitted, and is where the panel starts to see the rank you are applying for.

What is rank calibration at a police promotion board?

Rank calibration means pitching your answers at the level of the rank you are applying for, not the rank you currently hold. A sergeant answer and an inspector answer to the same question should sound different in scope, impact, and the level at which decisions are made.

HMICFRS stands for His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services. It is the independent body that inspects every police force in England and Wales and publishes graded reports. At a promotion board, connecting answers to what HMICFRS has said about your force signals strategic awareness.

Police Promotion Board Glossary

The language of promotion boards trips up good officers before the board even starts. Here’s what the terms actually mean, in plain English, from the people who’ve sat on the panel. CVF 2024 aligned. Covers STANCE, PEEL, STARR, HMICFRS, rank calibration and every CVF term your panel will use to score your answers.

CVF 2024: The Competency and Values Framework, updated by the College of Policing in May 2024. It's the behavioural framework your promotion panel scores you against, made up of six competencies and three values.Every question on your board maps to the CVF. If you don't know how it's structured, you're preparing blind.Read more: CVF 2024 Explained→
Competency: One of the six behavioural areas the CVF assesses: We Are Emotionally Aware, We Take Ownership, We Collaborate, We Support and Inspire, We Analyse Critically, and We Are Innovative and Open-Minded.Most boards assess between four and six competencies, and you won't always be told which ones in advance.
Value: One of the three standards every officer is expected to demonstrate equally, regardless of rank: Courage, Respect and Empathy, and Public Service.Unlike competencies, values have no levels. A constable and a chief inspector are held to the same standard, but the scale and context of the evidence changes.
Descriptor: A specific behaviour the CVF expects you to demonstrate, written as a statement such as “I support others to understand their aims and wider organisational goals.”Panels listen for the descriptors relevant to your rank and tick them off as you speak. An answer that evidences nothing specific gives them nothing to score.
Mock Board: A practice run of a promotion board before the real thing. State6's Mock Board is a voiced AI panel that asks rank-calibrated questions aloud, listens to your spoken answer, probes what you said and scores you against the CVF 2024 with a written debrief.Reading answers on a page is not the same as delivering them out loud under questioning. A mock board is where you find out whether your evidence survives being spoken and probed.Read more: AI Mock Board→
Positive indicator: A behaviour that earns marks: the things a panel wants to hear evidenced in your answer.Hit enough positive indicators with specific, personal evidence and your score climbs.
Negative indicator: A behaviour that costs marks. A panel can hear an otherwise strong answer and still mark it down if a negative indicator appears.This is why a polished, confident answer can still score a three. The negatives pull it back down.
CVF levels: The three levels of expectation the CVF applies by rank. Level 1 covers PC and PCSO (personal conduct), Level 2 covers Sergeant to Chief Inspector (leading others), and Level 3 covers Superintendent and above (strategic leadership).The level you're assessed against depends on your target rank. Answering below that level is one of the most common reasons strong officers score poorly.
Cumulative levels: The rule that higher ranks must demonstrate the levels below them too. An inspector must evidence Level 1 and Level 2 behaviours, not just Level 2.Evidence only at a lower level can cap a descriptor score, no matter how well delivered.
Rank calibration: Pitching your answer at the level of the rank you're going for, not the one you currently hold. A sergeant answer and an inspector answer to the same question should sound different.It isn't about bigger words. It's about where your actions sit in the organisation and how far their impact reaches.Read more: What Panels Look For at Sergeant Level→
STARR: An answer structure: Situation, Task, Action, Result, Reflection. It's the standard way to structure a response at a UK police promotion board.The second R, Reflection, is the part most officers leave out, and it's where a panel starts to see the rank you're going for.Read more: How to Write a STARR Answer→
PEEL (State6 framework): A State6 Original answer framework: Position, Evidence, Explore the Tension, Lead. It's a structure for competency based promotion board answers, exclusive to State6.Not to be confused with the HMICFRS PEEL inspection programme below. They share the acronym but are entirely different things.Read more: Learn PEEL→
STANCE: State6's six-step framework for promotion board presentations: Situation, Take a position, Assessment, Navigate the options, Cost and risk, End with impact. Built on the Minto Pyramid Principle — state your recommendation before building the case for it.The most common reason officers underscore on a presentation question is structure, not content. STANCE gives the panel a recommendation in the second step, not after three minutes of context building.Read more: Learn STANCE→
HMICFRS: His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services. The independent body that inspects and reports on every police force in England and Wales.Your panel knows what HMICFRS has said about your force. Connecting your answers to that picture signals strategic awareness.Read more: What HMICFRS Grades Mean at a Board→
PEEL inspection: The HMICFRS inspection programme that grades forces on Police Effectiveness, Efficiency and Legitimacy. Each force receives published grades from Outstanding to Inadequate.Knowing your force's PEEL grades, and what's behind them, lets you ground your answers in your force's real context.
Causes of concern: The most serious findings HMICFRS can issue about a force, flagging an area where performance is seriously below standard and requires urgent attention.An officer who understands their force's causes of concern can show a panel they lead with the wider picture in view.
Areas for improvement: Findings HMICFRS issues that are less severe than a cause of concern, identifying where a force should improve.Like causes of concern, these form part of the force context a strong candidate can weave into their answers.
Collective language: The habit of describing what your team did (“we decided”) rather than what you personally did (“I decided”) when answering a board question.A panel scores one person, not a team. Collective language hides your individual contribution and is one of the most common reasons answers underscore.Read more: The Collective Language Problem→
Probe question: A question a panel asks after your answer to test its depth, often to check whether something you described was genuine and whether you can explain your reasoning.Probes are where a thin answer falls apart. Preparing for the likely probes is as important as the answer itself.
Mock board: A practice run of your promotion board under realistic conditions: questions asked aloud, timed answers, follow-up probes and scored feedback. Traditionally run by retired senior officers at around £380 per sitting; State6's Mock Board runs the same format with a voiced AI panel, included with the Gold plan.The real board is spoken, timed and pressured. Officers who have only ever written their answers routinely score a level below their written standard the first time they say them out loud.
Structured interview: An interview format where every candidate is asked the same set of questions and scored against the same criteria, used by most forces for promotion boards.Because the scoring is structured, vague answers that don't map to the criteria score poorly however confident they sound.
National Decision Model: The decision making framework used across UK policing, built around gathering information, assessing threat and risk, considering powers and options, and taking action. Usually shortened to the NDM.Referencing the NDM is expected at every rank for any decision making example. Leaving it out is a common gap.
Behavioural evidence: A specific action you personally took, a decision you made, or an outcome you created, that demonstrates a CVF descriptor. General statements and implied behaviour don't count.If a panel can't point to a specific moment in your answer that shows the behaviour, it isn't evidenced.
Reflection: The final part of a STARR answer, where you explain what the experience taught you and what you would do differently.Panels read reflection as a sign you can learn, which is the raw material of a more senior leader.
Overall score: The single rating a panel gives your answer, typically on a 1 to 5 scale, based on how many positive indicators you evidenced and whether any negatives were present.A 3 means you met the standard. A 4 or 5 means you clearly exceeded it. Knowing the difference helps you aim your evidence.

Learn the frameworks

STANCE — Presentation Framework →PEEL — Forward-Facing Questions →STARR — Behavioural Questions →CVF 2024 Framework →

Sources: College of Policing CVF 2024 · HMICFRS. State6 is an independent preparation platform and is not affiliated with the College of Policing or HMICFRS.