Apply – Probation Service

Applying to trainee probation officer programme:

Our trainee probation officer (PQiP) programme is back!

Applications have opened in:

East of England
Kent, Surrey, Sussex
London
South Central

Applications are not currently open in any other region, however you can register your interest for future PQiP campaigns here:

Are you eligible?

To be eligible for the PQiP Programme you must be able to provide a certificate for your qualification, this should be an award certificate for a completed Level 5 qualification or a level 5 exit award where a full degree has not been completed. This must comprise of at least 120 credits (of which 120 must be attained at level 5), which is transferable to evidence a second-year study at university or equivalent. If your certificate does not state the level, or the number of credits attained at Level 5, please check with the education provider who issued your certificate and provide written confirmation to support that you hold a valid qualification to present at the assessment centre. If you are not able to provide confirmation and or it is later found that your qualification does not meet the requirements, your place could be withdrawn. Find out more about level 5 qualifications.

If you have previously started a placement on any PQiP programmes, and you are re- applying within 12 months of leaving the programme, your application needs to be agreed via the regional Probation Learning Lead.

If you are successful in reaching the online assessment centre stage of the application process, you must be able to provide evidence that you have successfully passed a Level 5 (or above) qualification with at least 120 credits attained at level 5,by producing a valid certificate when asked at the start of the online assessment centre. If you have not yet undergone your graduation ceremony, or have still not received your certificate at the time of the online assessment centre, you can instead produce a valid transcript from the university as evidence, or a letter of confirmation of your pass mark from your education provider.

If you have studied for a qualification outside of the UK you will need to obtain a NARIC confirming that the qualification level is equivalent or above a UK Level 5 with details of relevant credits.

Please note: If you are unable to produce evidence of a Level 5 qualification, then you will not be able to continue with your online assessment centre and your application will be withdrawn.

In addition, you should have experience working with challenging individuals whose lives are in crisis and display challenging behaviour. It doesn’t matter whether it’s paid or voluntary – just that it involves the kind of behaviour we see from people on probation or in prison.

The application process

The first stage of the recruitment process involves filling out an application form.

As well as asking you about your education and career, we use the Success Profiles Framework to assess you against a range of elements using different selection methods, you can find out more here.

Within the application form you will be asked to complete four behaviour-based questions and one experience question, each of which requires a 250-word count. Please think carefully about your responses and ensure you are happy with the quality of your answers before you submit them. You may find it helpful to draft your responses in a word document before putting your final answers into your application form.

It’s useful to apply the STAR approach when providing answers to the questions – describing the Situation, Task, Actions, Result.

You will need to enter important personal details, including your right to work in the UK. We use these to check you are eligible to be a probation officer. You will need:
- proof of right to work
- proof of ID
- proof of address
- National Insurance Number
- proof of Level 5 Qualification.
If you feel you need reasonable adjustments to support you, please click here for more information about the support we offer and inform of us of this when prompted in your application form.

We are unable to reopen a campaign once it’s closed so please make sure you submit your application ahead of the closing date and time.
This is a half day assessment, completed online. We test to see if you have the abilities, behaviours and strengths to be a probation officer. The assessments are designed to reflect the reality of the probation officer role. Therefore, they will contain strong language and cover sensitive topics that could be potentially distressing.

The assessment will involve:

Written Test

The Written Test checks your written skills and assesses whether you are able to analyse information and communicate in writing. We are looking for you to write in concise sentences that show a reasonable understanding of grammar, with the majority of spelling correct.

Role Plays

You will be assessed on two 10-minute role plays. The role plays require you to take on the role of a trainee probation officer who is interacting with an offender in different situations. They are based upon challenging scenarios that you could be faced with as a trainee probation officer. You do not need any prior knowledge of the role to be successful.

Interview

The 40-minute blended interview covers a mixture of behaviour-based and strengths-based questions. Behaviour-based questions will explore your past experiences and achievements. Strength-based questions will focus on what motivates and energises you.

We will give you more information of what to expect and how to best prepare later on in your application journey.

If you feel you need reasonable adjustments to support you, please click here for more information about the support we offer and inform of us of this when prompted in your application form.
If your application is successful, you will need to undergo and clear pre-employment checks as part of the recruitment process. This will include HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) Enhanced Level 2 vetting. Once in post as a trainee probation officer, access to the multi-agency ViSOR database will be required as part of your role and you will therefore be required to undertake Non-Police Personnel Vetting (NPPV) Level 2. Proof that you have been a resident in the UK for the last 3 years is required to complete the NPPV2 vetting process. If you do not successfully pass NPPV vetting, you will be unable to access the ViSOR database and may not be able to fulfil the full requirements of the role/complete the PQiP qualification/may be redeployed to another role. In the unlikely event where failure occurs, an internal investigation may be commissioned to understand the reasons for NPPV failure and if/where we can redeploy you. If this is not possible, we will be required to terminate your employment.

All of our positions are exempt from the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act, which means all spent and unspent convictions are examined as part of the vetting process. As part of this, you must declare all convictions, cautions and absolute or conditional discharges – however long ago they occurred. More information about vetting is available here. This should not deter candidates with any criminal history from applying as all cases are always considered on their individual merits before a decision is reached.

The Probation Service encourages applications from people with lived experience and we believe this can make a difference to our service user outcomes. A conviction does not necessarily mean you cannot become a probation officer. However, failure to disclose information will put an end to your application, as we expect a high level of integrity from all those who we employ.
If you are successful at your online assessment centre, we will send you a provisional offer letter. However, we can’t always guarantee a placement every time, as it is dependent on local needs in each area as well as your successful completion of the pre-employment checks.

If we can place you, we will send you a location offer. If you choose to accept the location and your pre-employment checks are successfully completed, we will issue a contract and you will start your exciting new career.

If you are not quite successful in the PQiP programme application process we offer you the chance to be considered for a probation services officer role. Look out for the tick box on the PQiP application form to opt in to being considered. Probation services officers undertake the full range of work with offenders on probation.
We will verify your Level 5 qualification and the modules you studied, you may be asked to provide further information or evidence of your level 5 qualification, and we will confirm via our partner universities, whether you’ll be enrolled on the 15 or 21-month programme. Your PLL (Probation Learning Lead), PTA (Practice Tutor Assessor) or Line Manager (SPO) will be in touch prior to your start date, and they will be able to help with pre-joining queries. Should you have a query regarding your pay or contract please contact SSCL on MoJ-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com or 0345 241 5358

The recruitment process is usually around 7 months.

We are aware that there are websites in operation offering assistance to candidates with PQiP assessments – please note that these are not official websites, nor are they endorsed by HMPPS. Plagiarised applications will not be accepted.

Reasonable Adjustments

We encourage reasonable adjustments requests from a broad range of applicants to ensure we offer support to all who need it. This includes:
- people who are experiencing challenges carrying out day-to-day activities due to a ‘formally diagnosed’ disability or health condition,
- people who are experiencing challenges carrying out day-to-day activities due to a ‘suspected’ or ‘yet undiagnosed’ disability or health condition; and,
- those who do not consider themselves as having a disability but might be experiencing challenges carrying out day-to-day activities due to a health issue.
We understand that support requests are unique to every applicant and we will work with you to identify your individual requirements. This might mean accommodating challenges you have with core literacy skills, such as granting extra time to complete reading and writing exercises, or ensuring information is shared with you in an accessible format (e.g. increased font size).

While we aim to confirm all adjustments requested, there may be occasions when this is not possible. For example, if an applicant asks to be assessed against criteria that are not a direct match to the essential attributes in the job description it would mean introducing a fundamental (and potentially unlawful) change to the assessment process. It is very likely the request would be declined on that basis. If an adjustment cannot be provided, the reasons will be given to you in writing and/ or verbally. It is always about trying to strike a balance between the support needs of applicants and the integrity of the process, ensuring it is fair to everyone and lawful.
We make reasonable adjustments so that all candidates are given a fair opportunity to undertake the recruitment process regardless of their personal circumstances. Therefore, disclosing information regarding your disability or access requirements will have no impact on the outcome of your application. To find out more about on the job adjustments please visit our FAQs page
If you need any help with your application, please email or call our Contact Centre:
- Email: moj-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com
- Telephone: 0845 2415358

Working for the Civil Service

We abide by the Civil Service Code’s standards of behaviour.

Our recruitment processes are driven by the principle of a fair and open competition leading to appointments based on merit (as outlined in the Civil Service Commission’s Recruitment Principles).

If you have any questions about the Civil Service Commission or our Recruitment Principles, we recommend contacting the Civil Service Commission directly.

If you feel we haven’t upheld those principles throughout your application and want to make a complaint, first contact the Ministry of Justice. If their response is unsatisfactory, contact the Civil Service Commission

Email: MoJ-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com

Telephone: 0345 241 5358

The ‘Making the Civil Service a great place to work for veterans’ initiative includes a guaranteed interview scheme to provide eligible HM armed forces service leavers an opportunity to secure a career in the Civil Service. If you are a service leaver, you can find out more from the Career Transition Partnership.

You may also wish to consider other roles within HMPPS, such as Probation Services Officer, Case Administrator, Prison Officer, OSG, Community Payback Supervisor or Approved Premises Residential Worker.
- Probation Services Officers (PSOs) carry out similar roles to that of fully qualified Probation Officers but work with lower risk people on probation. Like Probation Officers, PSOs may work in a variety of different offender management environments such as community probation offices, law courts or approved premises.
- Approved Premises (AP) workers provide support to people who have recently left prison who are staying temporarily in approved premises – a type of hostel – while they resettle into the community.
- Community Payback Supervisors assist people on probation who receive a community sentence which may involve some form of community work – for example helping to maintain public parks or gardens.
- Case Administrators and Senior Case Administrators support our operational Probation Officers and PSOs in assisting with their offender caseload. Similarly, Business Administrators in our prison establishments support in a wide range of management work areas.
- Prison Officers work with people in prison while serving their custodial sentence – providing support in elements of the daily regime – such as education, work, family & legal visits and healthcare.
- Operational Support Grades (OSGs) work in prisons in a variety of roles – for example security duties in operating the main gate and reception area; overseeing communications with other areas of the establishment; supervising contractors working in the establishment;

For more information regarding other roles, please visit the Prison & Probation Jobs website.

You can also register on the Civil Service Jobs website.