What this recruitment is
The Probationary Constable recruitment is how Sri Lanka Police brings new officers into the force at entry level. It is run directly by the police department rather than by an outside examination body, and it combines a physical screening, a medical check, a written test and an interview into a single selection process. A candidate who clears all four stages is appointed on probation before being confirmed into the service.
This is a national recruitment: notices are gazetted for postings across the island, and applicants from any part of Sri Lanka can apply against the vacancies advertised in a given cycle. Because the police force recruits in most years, the exact scale and shape of each cycle varies, and a candidate preparing for it should always read the specific gazette notification currently open rather than assume last year’s details still hold.
Who can apply
The minimum academic requirement is a pass in the General Certificate of Education, Ordinary Level examination, commonly known as the GCE O/L. Beyond that baseline, the recruitment gazette for each cycle sets out the fuller list of conditions, including citizenship, character and other requirements that are standard for police service. A candidate should read the currently open notification in full before applying, since specific conditions can be revised between cycles.
How the selection process works
Selection runs across four stages.
The physical efficiency test checks whether a candidate meets the physical standards the force sets for constable duty. It typically includes measurements and fitness tasks appropriate to policing work.
A medical examination follows, or runs alongside the physical stage, to confirm the candidate meets the health standards required for active police duty.
Candidates who clear the physical and medical stages sit a written examination. This tests the general knowledge and aptitude expected of an entry level police officer.
The final stage is an interview, where a panel assesses candidates who have passed the earlier stages before a final selection list is drawn up.
At the time this page was last checked, no official source gave a specific vacancy count or the number of applicants for the 2025 recruitment cycle. Rather than estimate either figure, this page describes the process itself and leaves the numbers out until a sourced figure is published.
The 2025 cycle
The most recent Probationary Constable recruitment gazette was published on 20 June 2025, and applications for that cycle closed on 21 July 2025. Both dates come from the official gazette notice carried on Sri Lanka’s government gazette portal, gazette.lk. As with vacancy and applicant numbers, later stage dates such as the physical test, written examination and interview schedule for this cycle were not available in the sources checked, so this page does not state them.
Where to check current details
Because a police recruitment cycle moves through several stages over months, and because notices are sometimes revised, treat the current Sri Lanka Police gazette notification and the Department of Examinations as the final word on any date, eligibility condition or vacancy count this page does not carry. The gazette notice for the 2025 cycle and the Sri Lanka Police official website are linked at the top of this page, and this entry will be updated as further sourced facts about later stages of the cycle become available.