Qualifications

To apply to become a prison officer in England and Wales with HMPPS, you must:

• be aged 18 or over

• have the right to work in the UK

• be reasonably fit

• have good eyesight and hearing.

If you are applying to a category A prison, you'll also need to have been a UK resident for at least three years.

Personal qualities and life experience are more important than academic qualifications.

The application process includes various stages, including:

• a short online application to confirm your eligibility to live and work in the UK

• two online tests, consisting of a situational judgement test (to check how you react to real-life scenarios) and a maths test

• a game-based assessment that checks you have the right natural strengths to become a prison officer

• an assessment and recruitment centre to assess your physical fitness and whether you've got the required skills and qualities to be a prison officer.

Before taking up a position as a prison officer, you'll need to go through the vetting process, which can take a few months to complete.

There is also an opportunity for graduates to work as a prison officer and gain leadership skills via a two-year accelerated leadership development programme. This programme aims to produce future prison leaders equipped with the skills necessary to help reform the prison service and cut reoffending.

To apply for a place on the programme, you'll need at least a 2:1 degree in any subject, GCSEs in maths and English at Level 4/C or above and the right to work in the UK for the duration of the programme. For full details on entry requirements and the application process, see Unlocked.

In Scotland, the recruitment process consists of four assessments - psychometric testing, application assessment, competency-based interview and fitness test. For full details on entry requirements, see the Scottish Prison Service (SPS). For more information on the role of prison officer in Northern Ireland, see the Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS).

Contact individual providers for information on entry requirements and training for private prisons.

The main employers of prison officers in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are:

• HMPPS - runs 109 of the 123 prisons in England and Wales

• Scottish Prison Service (SPS) - 15 Scottish prisons in total, 13 are publicly managed and two are run by private sector operators under contract to the SPS

• Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS)

A number of prisons in England, Wales and Scotland operate under private contract and are responsible for their own recruitment. Private prisons may also differ in other respects from the majority of prisons, but they're governed by the same HMPPS/SPS rules and regulations. For a list of private prisons in England and Wales see the Ministry of Justice Contracted-out prisons.

Prison officer opportunities also exist in remand centres, young offenders' institutions and open or resettlement prisons.

Look for vacancies at:

• Ministry of Justice

• Northern Ireland Civil Service Recruitment

• Prison and Probation Jobs

• Scottish Prison Service

Private prison providers, such as Sodexo Justice Services, Serco Justice Services and G4S Custodial and Detention Services, also advertise vacancies on their websites.