Advance into Justice – Prison Officer (fast-track to Physical Education Instructor)

Tardebigge, West Midlands (England), B97 6QS : Lewes, South East England, BN7 1EA : Bristol, South West England, BS7 8PS : Cowlinge, East of England, CB8 9YG : Onley, East Midlands (England), CV23 8AP : Grove, South West England, DT5 1DL : Bisley, South East England, GU24 9EX : Edgcott, South East England, HP18 0TL : Bovingdon, East of England, HP3 0NZ : Griston, East of England, IP25 6RL : Clipsham, East Midlands (England), LE15 7RD : Pentre Maelor, Wales, LL13 9QE : Rochester, South East England, ME1 3QS : Eastchurch, South East England, ME12 4AX : Eastchurch, South East England, ME12 4AY : Bedford, East of England, MK40 1HG : Norwich, East of England, NR1 4LU : Chainbridge, East of England, PE15 0PR : West Perry, East of England, PE28 0SR : Newport, South East England, PO30 5RS : Erlestoke, South West England, SN10 5TU : Guy’s Marsh, South West England, SP7 0AH : Evesham, West Midlands (England), WR11 5TZ

Please see job description

Advance into Justice – Prison Officer (fast-track to Physical Education Instructor)

 

                       

One career, many roles

Advance into Justice is a recruitment scheme targeted at supporting those who have served in the Armed Forces and their families into employment within operational roles within HMPPS.  

Advance into Justice is open to Service Leavers, Veterans within 5 years of leaving the Armed Forces and their Spouses and Legal Partners.

Eligible applicants who pass our assessment processes will be offered a 2 year fixed-term appointment within the option to convert to permanency, subject to approval, after 12 months, under Exception 2 to the Civil Service recruitment principles.

Successful applicants will be offered either a home to work travel or resettlement package to support their transition within their first 2 years of employment.

All provisional offers will be held for a period of 12 months from the point of offer, to allow service leavers to plan for their exit from the Armed Forces.

 

Advance Into Justice , HM Prison & Probation Service

 

As a prison officer, you’ll be part of a diverse team, making an impact, doing meaningful work in our prisons.

 

Working in a prison is fast-paced and varied, and no two days are the same. You’ll work with a range of people and perform a variety of tasks – from keeping the prison safe and secure, to helping vulnerable people through a difficult time in their lives. Once you’ve qualified, you’ll have a range of opportunities to specialise and progress your career and earning potential.

 

It can be a challenging job, but in return you will get good pay, training, benefits and have the support of a strong team.

 

Find out more about this varied role and day-to-day life as a prison officer.

 

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.

 

 

 

Fast-Track Assessment Process

We’ve significantly reduced the length of time it takes to become a PEI compared to the standard process. This means that you will be able to start your training during your probationary year. The remaining training will be the same and consists of:

• A 4-day pre-selection process – This is to ensure prospective PEI’s have the key strengths and qualities needed to meet the demands of the full PE course. A high level of fitness, communication skills, basic hand-eye co-ordination, along with good core strength and flexibility are key elements that are needed to successfully complete this.
• A 13-week PE course – On successful completion of your Pre-Selection, you can apply for PEI vacancies and secure your place on your PE Course.  The full PE course involves gaining several sports based and teaching qualifications such as Gym Instructor Level 2, British Weight Lifting Level 3 and Education and Training Level 3.

 

PEI offer

 

• 2 year fixed term appointment with the opportunity to convert to permanency after 12 months in post, subject to approval.
• Offer of home to work or resettlement package, depending on the applicant’s circumstances
• Undertake the prison officer role, with fast-tracked access to the PEI pre-selection assessment.
• Starting pay will be the same as a Band 3 prison officer.

 

Eligibility

• You will need to be a qualified prison officer
• You will need to pass a higher PE level fitness test before your pre-selection course
• You will need to complete a pre-selection and full PE course
• You will need to pass a promotion assessment interview

 

 

How to apply

 

The online application begins with important details such as your National Insurance number and right to work in the UK.

You will then be invited to complete the online tests, to see if you have the basic judgement and numerical skills expected of a prison officer.

Due to the number of positions currently available, this vacancy is only open for a short period of time and only individuals who perform highest at the online tests will be invited to our online assessment centre.

The online assessment centre

 If you pass the online tests, we will invite you to an online assessment centre.

 We test to see if you have the abilities, behaviours and strengths to be a prison officer. 

Once you’ve successfully completed the online assessment centre, 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.

 We will tell you what to expect and bring before the day.

 

Read more about the application process.

 

Job details

 

Eligibility

 

To become a prison officer, you will need to:

 

• be at least 18 years old
• have the right to work in the UK
• be reasonably fit and able to pass our fitness test
• have good eyesight 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).

 

To work in a high security prison (category A) you must have been a resident in the UK for the last 3 years.

 

Essential skills

 

You don’t need qualifications to become a prison officer. Personal qualities are more important. You need to show:

 

• communication and influencing skills
• commitment to quality
• effective decision-making
• care and understanding

 

Pay

Your pay will depend on which prison you work at and your weekly shift hours. The figures below are based on a 39 hour week (you will start on a 37 hour contract until you have completed your initial training. You can then choose to increase your hours to 39 or 41 hours a week.)

 

Salaries quoted include an unsocial hours allowance

Salary – £30,702*

HMP Berwyn – Wrexham, Wales

HMP Birmingham – West Midlands

HMP Brinsford – Wolverhampton,

HMP Bristol – Bristol

HMP Channings Wood – Newton Abbot

HMP Chelmsford – Springfield

HMP Deerbolt – County Durham

HMP Erlestoke – Devizes, Wiltshire

HMP Exeter – Exeter

HMP Featherstone – Wolverhampton

HMP Full Sutton – nr York

HMP Garth – Leyland

HMP Gartree – Leicestershire

HMP  Haverigg – Millom

HMP Hewell – Redditch, Worcestershire

HMP Hollesley Bay-  Woodbridge

HMP Hull – Hull

HMP Humber – Everthorpe

HMP Guys Marsh – Shaftesbury, Dorset

HMP Isle of Wight – Newport, Isle of Wight

HMP Lancaster Farms – Lancaster

HMP Leeds – Leeds

HMP Leicester – Leicester

HMP Lewes – Lewes, East Sussex

HMP Lincoln – Lincoln

HMP Lindholme – Hatfield , Doncaster

HMP Littlehey – Nr Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire

HMP Long Lartin – Worcestershire

HMP Maidstone – Maidstone

HMP Moorland – Hatfield

HMP Morton Hall – Lincoln

HMP Norwich – Norfolk

HMP Onley – Rugby, Warwickshire

HMP Ranby – Retford

HMP Rochester – Rochester, Kent

HMP Risley – Warrington

HMP Portland – Dorset 

HMP Preston – Preston

HMP Stocken – Rutland 

HMP Stoke Heath – Market Drayton

HMP Swinfen Hall –  Lichfield

HMP The Verne – Portland

HMP Wakefield – Wakefield

HMP Warren Hill – Woodbridge

HMP Wayland – Thetford, Norfolk

HMP Whatton – Nottingham

HMP Wealstun – Wetherby, North Yorkshire

HMP Whitemoor – March, Cambridgeshire

HMP Wymott- Leyland

 

Salary – £32,702 (includes £2,000 market supplement)

HMP Bedford – Bedfordshire

HMP Elmley – Isle of Sheppey, Kent

HMP Grendon – Buckinghamsire

HMP Highpoint – nr Newmarket, Suffolk

HMP Huntercombe – Henly on Thames

HMP The Mount – Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire

HMP Swaleside – Isle of Sheppey, Kent

HMP Winchester – Winchester

 

Salary – £34,202 (includes £3,500 market supplement)

HMP Aylesbury – Buckinghamshire

HMP Bullingdon – Bicester, Oxfordshire

HMP Woodhill – Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire

 

Salary – £34,140 (Outer London)

HMP Belmarsh

HMP Isis – Thamesmead, London

 

Salary £35,931 (Inner London)

HMP Pentonville

HMP Wandsworth

 

Salary £36,140 (Outer London & £2000 Market Supplement)

HMP Feltham – Feltham, Middlesex

HMP Highdown – Sutton

 

 

Benefits

 

• 25 days’ annual holiday (rising to 30 days after 10 years’ service)
• paid time off for public holidays and 1 extra privilege day
• Civil Service pension of up to 20% of your salary
• cycle to work scheme, travel loans and other benefits

 

Read more about prison officer benefits.

 

Your training to be a prison officer

 

We want to make sure you are matched to the right training scheme.  Once you have passed our initial selection and as part of the pre-employment procedures, we will undertake an initial assessment with you to identify whether undertaking an Apprenticeship in Custody & Detention or the Initial Foundation Training will be appropriate in getting you ready for working in a custodial setting.  The outcome of the assessment will determine which training pathway you take and this will be discussed with you before you take up post.

 

Job offers: merit vacancy

 

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’ll need to apply again.

 

Your successful pass from the online assessment centre will be valid for 12 months if you want to apply for vacancies at other prisons.

 

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-enquiries@gov.sscl.com
2. Ministry of Justice Resourcing
3. The Civil Service Commission.

 

We encourage applications from people from all backgrounds and aim to have a workforce that represents the wider society we serve. We pride ourselves on being an employer of choice. We champion diversity, inclusion and wellbeing and aim to create a workplace where everyone feels valued and a sense of belonging.

 

 

 

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with settled or pre-settled status or who apply for either status by the deadline of the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals working in the Civil Service
• relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals who have built up the right to work in the Civil Service
• certain family members of the relevant EU, EEA, Swiss or Turkish nationals

Visa sponsorship

 

Please note we are unable to sponsor any individuals via the Skilled Worker Sponsorship / Tier 2 (General) work visa.

 

Successful applicants must ensure they have and maintain the legal right to live and work in the Civil Service and in the United Kingdom.

 

 

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. Operational support grade – Ministry of Justice

 

Disability support

 

As a Disability Confident employer, the Ministry of Justice is committed to providing everyone with the opportunity to demonstrate their skills, talent and abilities, by making adjustments throughout all elements of the recruitment process and in the workplace. You will be able to request reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process within the application form. We can offer reasonable adjustments to help with the online tests and online assessment centre.

If you require any assistance, please call 0345 241 5358 (Monday to Friday 8am-6pm) or e-mail MoJ-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com. Please quote the job reference 76123

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: 3rd August 2023

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.

Link: https://justicejobs.tal.net/vx/candidate/cms/About%20the%20MOJ

Successful candidates will be expected to have a medical.

Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available.
You may want to save a copy for your records.

Job contact :

• Name : SSCL Recruitment Enquiries Team
• Email : Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com
• Telephone : 0845 241 5358

Recruitment team

• Email : Moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com