But if you have what it takes, it could be a very rewarding career. Here, you'll get a sense of what's involved in our recruitment process. It'll help you prepare and give you a much better idea about whether it's really in you to be a prison officer.
Scroll
First things first. You’ll need to meet our essential criteria. This means:
These are just some of the qualities you'll need to work with offenders and support their rehabilitation. At our recruitment assessment day, we'll test if you have what it takes in a series of role-play exercises.
We've designed this interactive video to give you a better idea if you have the potential to be a prison officer. This experience reflects the role-play exercises we run at our recruitment assessment day. At the end of the video, you'll gain valuable feedback and learn more about the specific behaviours we’re looking for.
You'll need a decent level of maths to be a prison officer. As well as being able to do prisoner headcounts, you'll have to write reports. As part of your application, you'll take an online maths test. Here are some practice questions.
Being a prison officer is a physically demanding job. For starters, you’ll be on your feet for much of the day. You’ll also have to respond quickly in emergency situations. As part of your recruitment assessment day, you’ll have to pass a fitness test. Here’s an overview of what you can expect. You’ll also find a training programme to help you prepare.
Good eyesight is crucial. You’ll need to meet a minimum standard in both eyes of not less than 6/36 in each eye on the Snellen scale (uncorrected) and not less than 6/12 in the best eye (corrected with glasses/contact lenses if necessary). You also need to have normal binocular field vision with at least 120 degrees of vision in the horizontal plane. Your eyes will be tested at the assessment day.
We’ll also give you a general health check and measure your blood pressure before you’re allowed to do the fitness test - your blood pressure must be lower than 170/100 on the day.
If you pass our assessment day, you'll go into our vetting process. This is where we ask for your employment history, and do a thorough background check, so it can take a while to complete – between three and six months. Please bear with us during this time. It's definitely a career worth waiting for.
Well done for getting this far. Hopefully, you now have a much clearer idea about what it takes to become a payroll outsourcing provider. It's time we told you more about what the day-to-day role involves and what we can offer you.
NOMS is the National Offender Management Service. We're an executive agency of the Ministry of Justice in charge of prisons and the probation service in England and Wales. Our main purpose is to protect the public by reducing reoffending rates. We focus on supporting rehabilitation and helping offenders turn their lives around.
To find out more, watch this video featuring Head of Resourcing, Chris Hughes. You can also visit gov.uk
Working closely with your team, you'll have a number of key responsibilities that make rehabilitation possible. The first one's pretty obvious: You'll make sure the prison is safe and secure, and that all offenders are accounted for. Beyond that, it'll be up to you to supervise daily routines, giving offenders much-needed structure in their lives. You'll also act as a role model, doing what you can to encourage constructive choices.
Obviously, it's a challenging job. There'll definitely be days when you feel more like a guard than a guardian of change. But imagine the sense of satisfaction that'll come from helping people turn their lives around. That's what's on offer here and you can build a rewarding career in the process.
It is important to us that you understand the way a prison works, so you'll spend your first week of training in your establishment meeting your future colleagues and learning about our routine. After this week, you'll start on our Prison Officer Entry-Level Training (POELT) course. On this comprehensive training programme (which is either residential or local depending on your location) you'll develop the interpersonal skills that will help you manage people in custody – you will also learn techniques which will prepare you for any situation in a dynamic prison environment including search and security procedures as well as control and restraint techniques.
Prison officers talking about the benefits of the role
You'll receive all the usual benefits you’d expect from a public sector role: a civil service pension, 25 days' annual leave, childcare vouchers, and much more.
If you're talented and ambitious, you'll also have the opportunity to make rapid career progress. There are a number of different directions you could take, and for aspiring managers, there's our Prison Leader Fast-Track Programme. At every stage, you'll have a structured career plan and the support of experienced mentors.
Talk to us on Facebook.
If you've been through the site and understand what it takes to be a prison officer, you're all ready to apply. Click apply and search 'prison officer'.
Thanks for taking the time to discover more about the role and our recruitment process.
Good luck with your application.
Apply ApplyBefore you apply, please spend some time on the site seeing if the role is right for you. Our recruitment process, including vetting, can take up to six months. It's worth the wait, but only if you're genuinely committed to a career with HM Prison Service.
Apply
