What is a Police Station Representative?

For PSR training | not legal advice. This article is for educational purposes and is general information only, not legal advice. Police Station Representatives and accredited reps must apply their own professional judgment to the facts of each case. AccrediLaw provides training; we do not provide legal advice.

The Role, the Accreditation, and What People Get Wrong About It

A Police Station Representative (PSR) is the trained, accredited specialist who supports a suspect or detainee at the police station, from booking through interview to the decisions that come up in custody.

The accreditation is called PSRAS. That is what authorises the role for legally aided work.

The Rule Most People Get Wrong

A PSR can be a solicitor or a non-solicitor. PSRAS is required either way before they can provide police station advice. This is the position the SRA has set out, and it dissolves most of the public confusion about how the role works.

In other words: “solicitor” tells you about qualification. “PSR” tells you about a specific accreditation for the police station. They are not the same axis, and PSRAS is what decides whether someone can do the police station job.

Who Can Do What | At a Glance

*Solicitors are not exempt from PSRAS. The assessment is the same. See how AccrediLaw prepares candidates.

What a PSR Actually Does

The role is defined by the SRA’s PSRAS competence standards and the Codes of Practice under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (PACE). In plain terms, the PSR is the trained adviser who attends when a suspect is arrested or invited for interview, and runs the practical steps that make the police station stage proper, lawful, and properly recorded.

A typical attendance involves the following.

• Introduction. Identify yourself, your firm, and your role (solicitor or representative; duty or own solicitor instructed). Explain your independence from the police, your duty of confidentiality, and the client’s right to free legal advice.
• Disclosure. Read the custody record. Take whatever pre-interview disclosure the police are willing to provide. Identify the offence, the time and place, and the issues the interview will cover.
• Consultation. See the client privately. Take instructions. Advise on the options for the interview, including silence, prepared statement, or full account, and the consequences of each. Adapt the advice to the client’s ability to cope.
• Vulnerability. Identify whether the client is a child or otherwise vulnerable. Determine whether an appropriate adult is required under PACE Code C and ensure one is secured if so.
• Interview. Attend the interview. Intervene where the police breach PACE, where questions are improper, or where the client’s welfare is at risk. Request breaks where further private advice is needed.
• Record. Keep a contemporaneous record of disclosure received, advice given, decisions taken, and any objections raised. The file must hold up if the case is picked up later by another representative.

Underneath all of that sits a working knowledge base: criminal law and procedure, the common offences and the rules of evidence, PACE 1984 and its Codes of Practice, and the professional ethics governing advice in custody. The PSRAS assessment is designed to confirm that knowledge base is in place.

Solicitor or Non-solicitor | What Changes?

If you are a solicitor with PSRAS, the police station is one slice of a wider practice. Court, applications, strategy, running the case end-to-end. All of that is yours too.

If you are a non-solicitor with PSRAS, you are authorised for the police station role specifically. You cannot take on the wider functions reserved to solicitors. But you can build a serious specialism around custody work, which is needed at all hours and often in places solicitors do not reach.

If you are a solicitor without PSRAS, you cannot do police station legal aid work. Not until you sit the assessment. PSRAS is the gating accreditation no matter what else you are qualified for.

Firms employing non-solicitor PSRs are responsible for keeping them competent in the role. That sits alongside the SRA’s direct regulation of solicitors. Between the two routes, the SRA’s remit reaches everyone authorised for police station legal aid work.

How to Become a PSR

PSRAS is administered by assessment organisations that the SRA has authorised to deliver the scheme. The SRA publishes the current list on its website and is the authoritative source.

The assessment is in three parts:

• Written Exam. Tests knowledge of criminal law and procedure, evidence, PACE, and the ethics of police station advice.
• Portfolio. A bundle of real or simulated police station attendances evidencing competence in practice.
• Critical Incidents Test. A structured role-play assessing how you handle the pressure points in a live custody scenario.

AccrediLaw status: SRA authorisation in progress. Our application to become an SRA-authorised PSRAS assessment organisation is currently in preparation, following formal notice of intention given to the SRA in January 2026. Until that authorisation is granted, AccrediLaw operates as a training provider, preparing candidates to sit the PSRAS assessment with one of the existing SRA-authorised organisations.

If you are weighing the route, see How Much Does It Cost to Train? for a breakdown, or our AccrediTraining page for the broader approach.

Is This for You?

People who do well as PSRs tend to be calm under pressure, clear communicators, and comfortable working inside structured rules without being rigid. The work needs good judgement: knowing when to push, when to pause, and how to support someone who may be frightened, exhausted, or vulnerable.

If you want a role that sits close to the realities of criminal justice, where decisions matter and the support has to be practical, qualifying through PSRAS is a meaningful route into police station practice.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does it take to qualify through PSRAS?

Most candidates complete PSRAS in three to six months of focused preparation, depending on their starting point. Solicitors with criminal practice tend to move through faster; candidates newer to police station work typically take the full window to allow for portfolio evidence gathering and CIT practice. The portfolio is the rate-limiter for most candidates: it needs real or simulated attendance evidence aligned to the SRA marking criteria.

Does PSRAS need renewing, or is it for life?

PSRAS accreditation does not lapse automatically once granted. The SRA’s continuing competence framework expects holders to maintain their knowledge through CPD activity and ongoing police station practice. Firms employing non-solicitor PSRs carry an oversight obligation in this regard. In practice PSRAS sits as a foundation rather than a finish line, refreshed by ongoing case experience and structured CPD.

Can I do private (non-legal-aid) police station work without PSRAS?

PSRAS is the gating accreditation for legally aided police station work. For privately funded representation, qualified solicitors can technically attend without PSRAS, but most firms and clients expect PSRAS or equivalent competence as the minimum professional standard. If you are serious about police station practice, PSRAS is the recognised credential regardless of how the work is funded.

I’m a paralegal or legal executive. Can I train as a PSR?

Yes. PSRAS is open to non-solicitors as well as solicitors. Paralegals, legal executives, trainee solicitors, and those with relevant criminal practice experience are all common routes into the role. The assessment standards are the same regardless of background: the written examination (unless exempt), the portfolio, and the Critical Incidents Test.

Are there exemptions if I have already done significant police station work?

The SRA permits exemption from the written examination for candidates with specific qualifying experience. The portfolio and Critical Incidents Test remain mandatory for all candidates regardless of exemption status. Exemption rules are administered by the SRA-authorised assessment organisations and depend on the evidence you can present. If exemption applies to your route, raise it with your chosen assessment organisation before booking: it affects both preparation and fees materially.