Work as a prison officer or operational support grade at HMP Highpoint

About HMP Highpoint

A large, rural campus on the site of a former RAF base, HMP Highpoint is a category C training and resettlement prison 6 miles from the busy market town of Haverhill in Suffolk. It accommodates up to 1,300 adult men, providing them with opportunities to learn new skills to help them find work when they return to their communities.

It’s an exciting time to be joining HMP Highpoint as the site is being expanded to accommodate an additional 741 prisoners. The new build will include new accommodation units, plus new prisoner workshops and a range of other modern amenities. The expansion will provide a range of interesting work opportunities for both prison officer and OSG staff.

Inside HMP Highpoint

With a focus on reducing their risk of reoffending when they return to their communities, HMP Highpoint provides prisoners with a range of learning and work opportunities, including:

• qualifications in a wide range of subjects, from basic English and Maths, through to higher education courses via the Open University
• vocational training in fields such as bricklaying, carpentry, health and fitness instruction, and electrical maintenance
• work opportunities in onsite workshops including recycling, food packaging, tailoring, and digital component recovery

A national rail infrastructure company runs an onsite training programme, teaching prisoners how to assemble and repair rail tracks. Prisoners who successfully complete the course are guaranteed a job offer when they leave custody.

Prisoners also have opportunities to learn gardening and vegetable growing skills in the onsite gardens.

Starting work as a prison officer at HMP Highpoint

Once you’ve completed your prison officer training, you’ll have a 3-week onsite induction at HMP Highpoint.

You’ll be assigned a ‘buddy’, an experienced officer who you’ll work alongside and who will be able to answer any questions you may have. During this time, you’ll shadow a range of activities – such as working on a residential unit and escorting prisoners to offsite healthcare appointments – that you will go on to do yourself as core elements of your prison officer role.

You’ll also have access to a new colleague mentor who will check in with you to make sure you have all the necessary skills and training you need.

Find out more about the prison officer role.

Starting work as an operational support grade at HMP Highpoint

You’ll complete a 4-week induction programme when you first start at HMP Highpoint.

• Week 1: you’ll shadow an experienced member of OSG staff – your ‘buddy’ – and start your training.
• Weeks 2 and 3: working Monday to Fridays, you’ll continue shadowing your buddy, gaining more experience of the various roles an OSG is responsible for.
• Week 4: still shadowing your buddy, you’ll start work on your shift pattern to gain experience of working weekend and night shifts.

During your induction, you’ll get an opportunity to experience working in a range of OSG roles including: working on the prison gate, in the communications room and delivering post in the prison. Your buddy will be on hand at all times to answer any questions you may have.

You will stop shadowing and take up your new role and shift pattern on week 5, working as part of a close-knit team.

Find out more about the operational support grade role.

Staff benefits

As an employee of HMP Highpoint, you’ll have access to a range of facilities and employee benefits including:

• use of a free onsite gym
• extensive free onsite parking
• excellent training and career progression opportunities

This is in addition to the great benefits you get from being part of HM Prison and Probation Service.

How to get to HMP Hightpoint

With plenty of free onsite parking, HMP Highpoint is just a short 20-minute drive from Newmarket, 30 minutes from Bury St Edmunds and 50 minutes from Cambridge.

Find HMP Highpoint on a map (opens in a new tab).