Teaching in a prison: a career for someone like you
Being a teacher in a prison, you can bring a fresh start in life for prisoners. And new meaning, challenge and purpose to your career.
Teaching in a prison isn’t your average education role. You will have the opportunity to help learners take steps towards a more positive future in ways you hadn’t realised you could.
You will enable adult (18 years and over) or young adult (aged 15 to 21) learners to gain the skills and confidence they need when they leave custody. To reconnect with their families. To get a job and make a positive contribution to society. And know you helped make that happen. There is no career like it.
A prison teaching job could be for you if:
- you’re a qualified teacher who’s looking for a new challenge and a better work-life balance
- you’ve got experience of teaching and are working towards a formal teaching qualification
- you’re a vocational trainer in a subject such as catering or construction
- you’ve got experience and/or qualifications in a specialist subject such as IT or art and are interested in developing your teaching skills
- or you’re a trade professional who is interested in passing on the skills you’ve learnt over the years to others and developing your teaching skills
Prison teaching: an extraordinary career
This is an extraordinary career with a vital purpose.
As a prison teacher, you will play a key part in helping learners to grow in confidence, to learn new skills, to improve their reading and writing and gain academic or vocational qualifications while they’re in custody.
From teaching functional skills such as entry level English and Maths and core curriculum subjects, to non-accredited courses such as budgeting and time management, and vocational courses such as barbering, catering, bricklaying, painting and decorating, there are a wide range of opportunities to teach in a prison.
Prison teacher – an extraordinary job. Done by someone like you.
- A range of working patterns, including permanent, fixed-term, full-time and part-time
- A variety of academic and vocational teaching opportunities
- Small classrooms sizes: 10 to 15 prison learners
- A good work-life balance: protected planning time, no weekend working and no extra-curricular activities to support
- A generous annual leave entitlement you can take at any time during the year!
- Meaningful work, helping prisoners take steps towards a positive future
Pay and benefits
Most prison teachers work for a specialist education provider that are contracted by His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS) partners with. Others work directly for HMPPS.
Your pay will depend on your role and which prison you work at.
On top of your salary, you will get a generous holiday allowance and a range of attractive employee benefits:
- if you work in one of four HMPPS prisons in Wales, you’ll be entitled to HMPPS benefits, including a generous Civil Service pension (opens in a new window)
- if you work for a specialist education provider, you’ll be entitled to the benefits they offer – see their websites for details when applying