19614 - Prison Officer Returners Scheme

Address: National

Salary: 36,150 to 47,641

City / Town: National

Region: National

Vacancy Type: Merit

If you are a former HMPPS prison officer or youth justice worker with less than 5 years gap in service and completed foundation training and probation before leaving HMPPS, we would like you to consider re-joining us to support your former colleagues to keep prisons and the public safe.

We can offer you a simplified return with no need to repeat the online tests, the online assessment centre or foundation training. However, if you would like to work in a womens prison, you will be required to undertake the additional assessment for womens prisons if you have not completed it previously.

Once your eligibility for the scheme has been confirmed, you will be allocated straight to a vacancy as one becomes available and invited to the medical and fitness assessment. You will be required to undergo full pre-employment checks prior to returning. If vacancies are not immediately available at the prison(s) of your preference, you will be placed on a merit list and be priority consideration for vacancies as they arise.

You need to be back in post before your 5 year return date expires. You must therefore apply at least 6 months before this date to allow sufficient time to be allocated to a vacancy and for the completion of pre‑employment checks.

If you are not yet ready to return, join our Prison Service Alumni Network to receive regular updates so you can apply when the time is right for you.

Eligibility

You can apply to return as a prison officer at HMPPS if you:

• Left HMPPS within the last 5 years at band 3 or a higher grade
• Previously worked as a prison officer at HMPPS at band 3, 4 or 5 or youth justice worker at HMPPS at band 3 or 4 within the last five years
• Completed foundation training and your full probation period as a prison officer or a youth justice worker at HMPPS

If you worked in another HMPPS role before becoming a prison officer or youth justice worker, you need to have:

• Completed your full probation period in that role and have worked as a prison officer or youth justice worker for more than 12 months before leaving

The scheme is also open to former HMPPS prison officers and youth justice workers who are currently working within the MoJ (excluding HMPPS) or other government departments.

HMPPS reserves the right to refuse reappointment to former prison officers and youth justice workers on grounds of previous poor attendance or performance.

To be a prison officer you must:

• 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.

DBS vetting is now undertaken for all prison officer roles. It will be DBS with child barred if you are allocated to a womens prison which has a mother and baby unit.

CTC vetting will be undertaken for the high security prisons ie Belmarsh, Frankland, Full Sutton, Long Lartin, Manchester, Wakefield, Whitemoor and Woodhill if you do not already have a clearance which is still in date.

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

Application Process

You will be asked to provide up to three prisons where you would be willing to return to the prison officer role, with the option to select more if you wish.

When your eligibility for the scheme has been confirmed, you will be allocated straight to a vacancy as one becomes available and invited to the medical and fitness assessment. You will be required to undergo full pre-employment checks (which includes occupational health) prior to returning. If vacancies are not immediately available at the prison(s) of your preference, you will be placed on a merit list and be priority consideration for vacancies as they arise.

If you are allocated to a womens prison, you will need to complete the additional assessment for womens prisons if you have not completed it previously. You will be asked to provide written responses to three behaviour-based questions, each of which requires a 250-word answer. These questions have been designed to explore your understanding of the prison officer role in a womens prison and why you are interested in the role. For each question you will be asked to consider a situation you may face as a prison officer in a womens prison. If you are unsuccessful, you will need to be re-allocated to an adult male prison.

You will return to full-time hours (starting at 37 hours a week), unless you request other hours when you apply. The availability of part-time and minimum hours contracts or work-life balance arrangements depends on local staffing needs therefore cannot be guaranteed. Your request will need to be agreed with the prison you will be returning to once you have been allocated and before being given a provisional offer.

Travel to Work

As you may recall, some of our prisons 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. Shift start and finish times are fixed so it is your responsibility to arrive on time. You need to carefully consider your transport options and travelling times before accepting the provisional offer.

Pay

You will return as a Band 3 on pay point 2.

If returning full-time, you will be given a contract for 37 hours a week. Once in post you can choose to increase to 39 or 41 hours a week. Your annual salary will reflect your weekly hours.

National:

• 37 hours a week (pay point 2) = 36,150 a year
• 39 hours a week (pay point 2) = 38,430 a year
• 41 hours a week (pay point 2) = 40,710 a year

Outer London:

• 37 hours a week (pay point 2) = 40,199 a year
• 39 hours a week (pay point 2) = 42,734 a year
• 41 hours a week (pay point 2) = 45,269 a year

Inner London:

• 37 hours a week (pay point 2) = 42,305 a year
• 39 hours a week (pay point 2) = 44,973 a year
• 41 hours a week (pay point 2) = 47,641 a year

All starting salary figures quoted are for 2026/27 and include the 20% unsocial hours allowance. Some prisons also receive a market supplement of 1,500, 2,000, 3,000 or 3,500 per year. You can find out more about this when your eligibility for the scheme has been confirmed.

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

• 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 with employer contributions of 28.97%
• Cycle to work scheme, travel loans and other benefits

Read more about prison officer benefits.

Working for the Civil Service

The ...