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Job Summary
Prison officer - HMP xxxxx
HMP xxx - Address xxxx
Starting salary: xxxxx (for a 39 hour week inc 20% unsocial)
City/Town: xxxx
Region: xxxxx
Vacancy type: Merit
This role is not eligible for new Skilled Worker visas in accordance with the current immigration rules.
From 22 July 2025 the Government introduced changes to the Skilled Worker visa route. The department cannot consider sponsoring you for this role unless you have held a Skilled Worker visa prior to the 22 July 2025 changes. If you have held a Skilled Worker visa continuously please raise this during your vetting checks and eligibility will be assessed in accordance with the immigration rules and transitional provisions in place.
If you are applying for this role and you have not held a Skilled Worker visa prior to the 22 July 2025 changes you will need to consider your options for obtaining and/or maintaining your right to work in the UK in light of these changes. Successful applicants must ensure they have and maintain the legal right to live and work in the Civil Service and in the United Kingdom.
The Department will continue to comply with UK Immigration Rules applied in the UK and Civil Service. You can read more about Skilled Worker visas and the eligibility criteria here.
An extraordinary job. Done by someone like you.
Prison officers protect the public and help make an impact on prisoners lives.
If you have the integrity skills and strength of character were looking for this fast-paced role could be the start of a successful career.
Someone like you
Theres no such thing as a typical prison officer. Our officers come from different walks of life just like the offenders they work with. Whether youre a parent a teacher have worked in retail the armed forces or just feel like youre a natural people person youll have the empathy self-confidence great communication skills and resilience we want.
No matter the challenge youll take the time to build constructive positive and professional relationships with prisoners who could be at the lowest point in their lives.
Teamwork plays a vital role in this environment so youll need to be fully committed to supporting your colleagues and understand the importance of acting as one team to keep the prison and everyone who works here safe. You will be required to work various shifts and some weekends.
An extraordinary job
In this unique career youll have the opportunity to carry out many different roles in any one day. One minute youre a peacekeeper the next youre a counsellor or a teacher. Youll work directly with prisoners in a unique environment helping to protect the public and make a positive impact.
Find out more about this varied role and day-to-day life as a prison officer.
Job details
Eligibility
To become a prison officer you will need to:
be at least 18 years old at the point you commence employment
- meet the Civil Service Nationality requirements (see nationality requirements section below)
as this is a physically active job you will need to pass a medical and fitness assessment as part of the application process
- meet the required eyesight standard in both eyes (both with and without corrective lenses)
For safety reasons everyone training to be a prison officer needs a suitable standard of hearing (without the use of hearing aids)
- Whilst tattoos are permitted including those that are visible they must not be deemed as offensive discriminatory violent or intimidating in any way. Facial tattoos are generally not acceptable except where this is for cultural religious or medical reasons.
To work in a high security prison (category A) you must have been a resident in the UK for the last 3 years.
Travel to Work
Some prison establishments are situated in rural locations with limited public transport options; therefore a driving licence and own transport is beneficial but is not an essential requirement of the role (unless specified). Please note that shift start and finish times are fixed and it is your responsibility to get to and from your place of work on time for the start of your shift. Please carefully consider the location of this vacancy and your transport options before applying.
Nationality requirements
This job is broadly open to the following groups:
UK nationals
nationals of the Republic of Ireland
nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
nationals of the EU Switzerland Norway Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
nationals of the EU Switzerland Norway Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
Turkish nationals and certain family members of Turkish nationals who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service
Further information on nationality requirements Successful applicants must ensure they have and maintain the legal right to live and work in the Civil Service and in the United Kingdom. Essential skills You dont need qualifications to become a prison officer. Personal qualities are more important. You need to show: Pay The initial training is 37 hours a week. After training you can choose to work 37 39 or 41 hours a week. Your annual salary will reflect your weekly hours. All salary figures quoted include any additional allowances that are applicable to the role/location. Prisons operate 24 hours a day 7 days a week. This means you will have to cover various shift patterns that will include evenings some nights weekends and public holidays (these days are added to your holiday allowance). Most prisons work with a changing shift pattern of 39 hours a week. You may also have opportunities to work additional paid hours. Benefits Read more about prison officer benefits. Assessment Process During the recruitment process you will be assessed on the behaviours strengths and abilities you need to become an effective prison officer. These include: communicating and influencing managing a quality service making effective decisions caring Your natural strengths are assessed to find out what motivates and energises you. We will also assess your numerical written English and spoken English abilities. Online Tests Once you have completed your initial application form you will be invited to complete an online test to see if you have the basic judgement and numerical skills expected of a prison officer. The online assessment centre (OAC) On successful completion of the online test we will invite you to an online assessment centre where we test to see if you have the abilities behaviours and strengths to be a prison officer. Read more about the application process. Job offers: merit vacancy This is a merit job vacancy. If you are successful at the online assessment centreyou will be added to a merit list based on your score. When all applicants have completed the assessment centre the prison will make job offers to individuals with the highest scores first when positions become available. You can stay on the merit list for 12 months. After this youll need to apply again. If your application is unsuccessful at the sift/assessment stage a six-month waiting period will be applied during which time you will not be allowed to submit any further applications for prison officer positions. Operational Support Grade Role Our Online Assessment Centre (OAC) will not only assess you against the key criteria to become a prison officer but will also determine your suitability for appointment as an operational support grade OSG If following attendance at your OAC you are unsuccessful in your application to become a prison officer we may instead offer you an alternative role as an OSG. Medical and Fitness Once we identify a vacancy for you we will invite you to complete a medical and fitness test. This will cover an eyesight test hearing test and basic health screening including a blood pressure check. Please note we are not able to facilitate medical and fitness assessments outside of the UK. Applicants will be required to attend a UK based medical and fitness assessment centre to progress their application. Find out more about the medical assessment and fitness test on theapplication information centre Working for the Civil Service The Civil Service Code sets out the standards of behaviour expected of Civil Servants. We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service Commissions recruitment principles. If you feel the recruitment process has breached the recruitment principles you can raise a formal complaint in the following order: 1. Shared Services Connected Ltd: call 0 (Monday to Friday 8am - 6pm) or email 2. Ministry of Justice Resourcing 3. The Civil Service Commission. Diversity & Inclusion The Civil Service is committed to attract retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Planand theCivil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy Reasonable Adjustment Support As a Disability Confident employer the MoJ is committed to ensuring that everyone can demonstrate their skills talent and reasonable adjustment support to candidates when they apply for one of our jobs is just one way we do this. Before completing online tests or attending an online assessment centre it is essential to arrange reasonable adjustment support. Due to practical and logistical constraints our assessors cannot accommodate requests on the day of the assessment centre. Therefore we kindly request that you let us know in plenty of time if adjustments are required. This will help ensure the right support is in place for you when you need it. Applying for reasonable adjustment support has been made simple. Just select yes in the application form when it asks if you think you might need it. The jobholder must be able to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence in English or (when specified in Wales) Welsh. Allowance Details Please refer to additional job description attachment Additional Information If you require any assistance please call 0 (Monday to Friday 8am-6pm) or e-mail . Please quote the job reference XXXX The jobholder must be able to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence in English or (when specified in Wales) Welsh. Closing date: XXXX Supporting document 1 Band-3-PO-Safe-Decent-and-Secure-JD048-v8.0 (1).pdf 150KB Opens in a new window A Great Place to Work for Veterans The Making the Civil Service a Great Place to work for veterans initiative includes a guaranteed interview scheme to those who meet the minimum criteria to provide eligible former members of the Armed Forces with opportunities to secure rewarding jobs. Allowing veterans to continue to serve their country and to bring highly skilled individuals with a broad range of experience into the Civil Service in an environment which recognises and values your previous service in the Armed Forces. Redeployment Interview Scheme Civil Service departments are expected to explore redeployment opportunities before making an individual redundant. The MoJ are committed as part of the Redeployment Interview Scheme to providing opportunities to those who are at risk of redundancy. MoJ are able to offer an interview to eligible candidates who meet the minimum selection criteria except in a limited number of campaigns. Candidates will not be eligible for the Redeployment Interview Scheme if they are applying on promotion. Whats it really like to work as a prison officer Our interactive online activity will give you an insight into some of the situations prison officers may experience day-to-day in their work. This is to help you decide whether the prison officer role is right for you and your responses in the activity will not form part of your application.
For further details about the initiative and eligibility requirements visit :
You can access the activity here Interactive Activity
If you require any assistance please call 0 (Monday to Friday 8am-6pm) or e-mail
. Please quote the job referenceXXXX.
The jobholder must be able to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence in English or (when specified in Wales) Welsh.
Use of Artificial Intelligence (Al)
Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support yourapplication however all examples and statements provided must be truthfulfactually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Whereplagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of othersor generated by artificial intelligence as your own) applications may bewithdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for moreinformation on appropriate and inappropriate use.
About Company
The Ministry of Justice’s Office of the Deputy Attorney General (International Law) handles a broad range of issues in the field of international law, including public international law, economic law and international humanitarian law. The Office is also at the forefront of advocating ... View more
