The University of Cambridge has put out a job advert for more women to join the University’s 30-strong team of constables.

The University is looking to redress the gender balance, noting that they “particularly welcome applications from women for this vacancy as they are currently under-represented at this level in our department”.

The successful candidate must be able to “communicate with a wide range of people and keep calm in challenging situations”.

The Cambridge University Constabulary, made possible by the Universities Act 1825, is among the oldest police forces in the United Kingdom. As a non-Home Office police service, they are appointed de jure by the Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor, but are in practice appointed by the University’s Proctors’ Office.

According to law, they have “powers and authorities, privileges, immunities, and advantages as any constables hath or shall have within his constablewick” – that is, within a four-mile radius of the precincts of the University.

Until the 1960s, the Proctors and the Constabulary conducted regular street patrols within the university’s precincts.

However, they no longer actively patrol the city’s streets and operate on a reactive basis when disorder or demonstrations are expected.