Prison service officers (below principal officer)

Average National Salaries (2020)

What does this career do?

Prison service officers (below Principal Officer) direct, co-ordinate and participate in guarding inmates and maintaining discipline in prisons and other detention centres.

Typical tasks

• escorts prisoners to and from cells and supervises them during meals, recreation and visiting periods
• watches for any infringements of regulations and searches prisoners and cells for weapons, drugs and other contraband items
• guards entrances and perimeter walls
• investigates disturbances or any other unusual occurrences
• escorts prisoners transferred from one institution to another
• runs prisoner rehabilitation and support programmes
• provides care and support to prisoners in custody including prevention of self harm
• trains and supervises prison staff
• reports on prisoners’ conduct as necessary.

Current entry requirements

There are no formal academic requirements for entry but candidates must pass a pre-entry test and full medical examination. Basic training is followed by a 12 month probationary period during which further on-the-job training is provided. Background checks are required for entrants, and there are generally nationality restrictions and a lower age limit of 18 years.

Percentage in work

• Employed

• Unemployed

Due to insufficient sample sizes, some data was excised.

Predicted employment status in 2022

• Full-time

• Part-time

Predicted employment levels in the East Midlands

Career related courses available at West Notts

There are no current courses offered by West Notts that are related to this career.

About the statistics

Data is powered by LMI for All and is sourced from labour market statistics from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the Institute for Employment Research, the Department for Works and Pensions, and the UK Commission for Employment and Skills.