202511: Prison Officer - HMP New Hall

HM Prison and Probation Service; Askham Richard; On-site; GBP 33,000 - 39,000; Full time

Job summary

A government agency in the UK is seeking individuals for the position of prison officer. Candidates must possess strong communication skills, a commitment to service quality, and the ability to make difficult decisions. The role involves working closely with prisoners and supporting a safe environment. Salary ranges from £33,746 to £38,003 annually, depending on hours worked. The position offers benefits such as civil service pension and annual leave.

Benefits

25 days’ annual holiday

Paid time off for public holidays

Civil Service pension

Cycle to Work scheme

Qualifications

• Must have the legal right to live and work in the UK.
• At least 18 years old at the time of employment.
• Pass medical and fitness assessments.
• Willing to work various shifts, including weekends and nights.
• Must have a suitable standard of hearing.

Responsibilities

• Work directly with prisoners in a high-security environment.
• Support colleagues and ensure safety in the prison.
• Participate in various roles such as peacekeeper and counsellor.

Skills

Communication and influencing skills

Commitment to quality service provision

Effective decision-making

Care and understanding of prisoner welfare

Job description

Visa Eligibility

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.

Prison Officer Overview

Someone like you – there is no typical prison officer. Our officers come from different walks of life, just like the offenders they work with. Whether you are a parent, a teacher, have worked in retail, the armed forces, or just feel like you are a natural people person, you will have the empathy, self‑confidence, great communication skills and resilience we want. Teamwork plays a vital role in this environment, so you will 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. In this unique career, you will have the opportunity to carry out many different roles in any one day – one minute you are a peacekeeper, the next you are a counsellor or a teacher. You will 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. 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.

Application Process

• Online Tests – After completing the initial application form you will be invited to complete stage 1 of the online test, to see if you have the basic judgement and numerical skills expected of a prison officer.
• If you are successful, you will be invited to stage 2 – a task‑based assessment to see if you have the natural behaviours and qualities needed to be an effective prison officer.
• Online Assessment Centre (OAC) – On successful completion of the online tests, 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.
• Behaviour‑based questions – After the centre you will be invited to provide a written response to three behaviour‑based questions. We will explore your understanding of the prison officer role in a women’s prison and why you are interested in the role.
• Job offers – This is a merit job vacancy. If you are successful at the online assessment centre, you 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, you will 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 (OSG) – If you are unsuccessful in your application to become a prison officer after OAC, we may offer you an alternative role as an OSG.

Medical and Fitness

Once a vacancy is identified, you will be invited 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.

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 Commission's 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 0845 241 5358 (Monday to Friday 8am – 6pm) or email Moj‑recruitment‑vetting‑[e-mail]
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 the Civil Service People Plan and the Civil 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 abilities. Offering 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 tick 'yes' when it asks if you think you might need it.

Allowance Details & Veterans Initiative

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. For further details about the initiative and eligibility requirements visit https://www.gov.uk/government/news/making-the-civil-service-a-great-place-to-work-for-veterans.

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.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Artificial Intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Requirements & Qualifications

• Legal right to live and work in the Civil Service and in the UK.
• Age – at least 18 years old at the point you commence employment.
• Pass medical and fitness assessment (eyesight and hearing standards).
• Must not have a judgment disorder or inability to maintain a safe environment.
• Willingness to work various shifts, some weekends, evenings, nights, public holidays and change of hours.
• Must have a suitable standard of hearing (without use of hearing aids) and comply with any health and safety regulations.
• Tattoos permitted if not offensive, discriminatory, violent or intimidating; facial tattoos generally not acceptable unless cultural, religious or medical.
• To work in a high‑security prison (category A) you must have been a resident in the UK for the last 3 years.
• Must register on the Criminal Records Unit or equivalent and comply with baseline personnel security checks.
• Optional – experience in retail, armed forces, teaching, or other customer‑facing roles helps but is not mandatory.
• English language – you must be able to fulfil all spoken aspects of the role with confidence in English or (where specified in Wales) Welsh.
• Physical fitness – you will need to pass a medical and fitness assessment as part of the application process.

Essential Skills

• Communication and influencing skills.
• Commitment to quality service provision.
• Effective decision‑making.
• Care and understanding of prisoner welfare.

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.

• 37 hours a week = £33,746 a year
• 39 hours a week = £35,875 a year
• 41 hours a week = £38,003 a year

All salary figures quoted include any additional allowances that are applicable to the role/location.

Benefits

• 25 days’ annual holiday (rising to 30 days after 10 years’ service)
• Paid time off for public holidays and one extra privilege day
• Civil Service pension with employer contributions of 28.97%
• Cycle to Work scheme, travel loans and other 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

Alongside your salary of £33,746, HM Prison & Probation Service contributes £9,776 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Links

For more information about the recruitment process, benefits and allowances and answers to general queries, please click the below link which will direct you to our Candidate Information Page. https://justicejobs.tal.net/vx/candidate/cms/About%20the%20MOJ

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 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.