First Time Prison Officer Recruitment Scheme

Get your career off to a great start and gain a wealth of experience by joining a long term high security prison

Check if you’re eligible to apply 

Most of the prisons covered by this recruitment scheme are high security ones. To work in them you must:

• have Counter Terrorism Check (CTC) security clearance
• have been resident in the UK for the last 3 years to apply for a CTC check

You do not need a CTC check to work at HMP Swaleside. 

Read about the other eligibility criteria you will also need to meet to apply to be a prison officer. 

About the First Time Prison Officer Recruitment Scheme 

This scheme is only available at the following prisons:  

• HMP Full Sutton, York (CTC check required) 
• HMP Long Lartin, Evesham, Worcestershire (CTC check required) 
• HMP Whitemoor, March, Cambridgeshire (CTC check required) 
• HMP Woodhill, Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire (CTC check required) 
• HMP Swaleside, Isle of Sheppey, Kent (no CTC check needed)

Choosing to apply to be a prison officer via this scheme means you’re happy to work away from home for your first 23 months.   

When applying, you can choose up to 3 prisons – which are 75 minutes or more from where you currently live – that you would like to work at. 

If your application is successful, you will be placed at the prison that needs prison officers the most at that time.    

Your base salary will depend on which prison you work at. Read more about prison officer salaries here. 

Benefits of the First Time Prison Officer Scheme 

As well as the great benefits you get from being a part of HMPPS, you’ll get: 

• an additional £1,500 each year on top of your salary, for 23 months 
• an opportunity to earn more through our ‘Payment Plus’ scheme (an additional payment for any hours you volunteer to work over your contractual hours) 
• up to £750 per month towards your accommodation costs, for up to 23 months 
• the cost of a monthly trip home repaid, based on the journey from the prison you are working at to the prison closest to your home  

What you need to know 

• You will need to work at the prison you are placed at for at least 23 months
• You will not be able to transfer to another prison before then
• When you first start on the scheme, the nearest prison to your permanent home will be confirmed as your ‘home’ prison

After you have been in post for 23 months 

After 23 months in post, you will move to a prison within 60 to 75 minutes travelling time of your permanent home. This will be your ‘home’ prison which would have been confirmed when you started on the scheme.

Once you have worked at your first prison for 23 months, you will no longer get the additional benefits you get under this scheme.