Check if you’re eligible
To work in a prison education, work and skills role, you need to:
- be 18 years or over
- have the right to work in the UK and the Civil Service (GOV.UK, opens in a new tab)
- speak fluent English, or Welsh if specified in the job ad
For roles in the high security prisons, you must have been a resident in the UK for the last 3 years.
Education, skills and work roles generally need specific qualifications or experience. Carefully read the job description to check.
The application process
The application process takes up to 6 months to complete, from starting your application to your first day on the job. How long it takes depends on how quickly we can arrange your interview and how long your pre-employment checks take.
As part of your online application, you’ll need to:
- tell us about your previous experience
- provide details of any qualifications you need for the role
- give real-life examples that show you can demonstrate the behaviours needed to be successful in the role
- detail your employment history, relevant experience, skills and key achievements
Attend an interview
If your online application is successful, you will be invited to attend an interview. It will be an opportunity to tell us more about yourself, your work history, and personal experiences. This will help us get to know you better and assess if you are suited to the role.
For some roles, you may also need to deliver a short presentation. We will let you know what to expect nearer the time.
Complete your pre-employment checks
If you are successful at interview, we will start your pre-employment checks. These will include security, identity and past-employment checks.
Get an offer and arrange your start date
Once you have received your provisional offer and passed your pre-employment checks, we will email you to arrange when you can start your new role.
Find your education, skills and work role
Want to be part of a diverse team, making an impact? Our education, skills and work staff are people just like you.
Tips for applying
You will need to provide an anonymised (also known as ‘name-blind’) CV and answer questions that outline your past experience.
You will also need to answer questions about your working style, giving real-life examples.
Anonymised CV
Your CV should include your employment history, relevant experience, skills and key achievements. It is important you do not include the following information that could identify you:
- name and title
- names of educational institutions
- age and gender
- email address
- postal address and telephone number
- nationality and immigration status
This will help ensure we make decisions based on your knowledge and skills, rather than your background, gender or ethnicity.
Real-life example questions
We want to hear real-life examples of how you have reacted in a particular situation.
Remember to be specific and write about actions and activities you have done in the past. You must keep within the word limit. Your goal is to write short but detailed examples, and you may find using bullet points helps.
We recommend using the STAR method when writing your example.
| STAR | Description |
|---|---|
| Situation | What was the situation you found yourself in? |
| Task | Build your answer by explaining the task you had to complete and why you had to complete it. You only need to provide an overview. |
| Action | What did you do to resolve the issue or situation? Try to add in actions you specifically took to complete your task and why you took this approach, rather than stating what others did. |
| Result | Briefly explain the results of the actions you took, what impact they had on the situation and how you knew whether they worked. |
Take some time to read through your examples, checking you have explained clearly what you did. You may find it helpful to ask someone else to read them too.