The scheme is the first of its kind in the country, and around 100 recruits each year will enrol on the course.

The two-year foundation degree combines practical on the beat training with rigorous academic work.

The first recruits will begin the course at the University of Teesside in September, where they will be taught law, criminology and forensic science.

A Cleveland Police spokesman stressed that there would be a balance between academic and practical work.

Academic context

He said: "Officers will spend equal time within the university and force, training in the areas they will eventually police, and they will be assessed for academic and practical skills."

The 100 police recruits, with an average age of 26, will join in three separate intakes, ten weeks apart.

After completing the Foundation Degree in Police Studies, graduates can then progress onto the final year of the university's new BSc (Hons) degree in Investigative Studies.

Colin Dunningham, director of the Centre for Applied Socio-Legal Studies and a former Durham Constabulary detective inspector, said the course will give recruits a broader understanding of police work.

He said: "The university will provide an academic context to the work the trainees will be doing.