Prison officer pay

Working hours

All trainee prison officers start on a 37 hour contract. Once you have completed your training you can choose to increase your contract to 39 or 41 hours a week.

Location

Prisons are divided into 4 pay categories, depending on where they are. These are:

• Inner London
• Outer London
• South and South East
• all other locations

Market supplements

Within these pay categories, some prisons may also have additional market supplements added. Market supplements are added for some prisons to help with recruiting and retaining prison officers. They’re not part of the base salary, are non-pensionable, and will be paid in 12 monthly instalments. Current market supplements will remain in place until March 2024 and will be subject to periodic review from that date.

Starting salaries

These tables show the starting salary for a prison officer based on working 37, 39, and 41 hours a week. Where the prison pays an additional market supplement, this is included in the figure listed.

There are also some specialist recruitment schemes that have bonus payments attached. Where these are available at a specific prison you can follow the link to find out more about your eligibility for the scheme.

Inner London pay

Prison	37 hours	39 hours	41 hours
Brixton	£36,164	£38,445	£40,726
Pentonville	£36,164	£38,445	£40,726
Wandsworth	£36,164	£38,445	£40,726
Wormwood Scrubs	£36,164	£38,445	£40,726

Outer London pay

Prison	37 hours	39 hours	41 hours	First time prison officer scheme (39 hours)
Belmarsh	£34,363	£36,530	£38,697	N/A
Downview	£36,363*	£38,530*	£40,697*	N/A
Feltham	£36,363*	£38,530*	£40,697*	£38,530*
High Down	£36,363*	£38,530*	£40,697*	N/A
Isis	£34,363	£36,530	£38,697	N/A

South and South East pay

Avon and South Dorset

Prison	37 hours	39 hours	41 hours	First time prison officer scheme (39 hours)
Bristol	£30,902	£32,851	£34,800	N/A
Leyhill	£30,902	£32,851	£34,800	N/A
Portland	£30,902	£32,851	£34,800	£32,851
The Verne	£30,902	£32,851	£34,800	£32,851

Cumbria and Lancashire

Prison	37 hours	39 hours	41 hours
Haverigg	£30,902	£32,851	£34,800
Kirkham	£30,902	£32,851	£34,800
Lancaster Farms	£30,902	£32,851	£34,800
Preston	£30,902	£32,851	£34,800
Wymott	£30,902	£32,851	£34,800

East Midlands

Prison	37 hours	39 hours	41 hours	First time prison officer scheme (39 hours)	Prison Futures scheme (39 hours)
Leicester	£30,902	£32,851	£34,800	N/A	N/A
Lincoln	£30,902	£32,851	£34,800	N/A	£32,851
North Sea Camp	£30,902	£32,851	£34,800	N/A	N/A
Nottingham	£30,902	£32,851	£34,800	N/A	£34,851*
Onley	£30,902	£32,851	£34,800	£32,851	N/A
Stocken	£32,902*	£34,851*	£36,800*	N/A
Whatton	£30,902	£32,851	£34,800	N/A	N/A

East of England

Prison	37 hours	39 hours	41 hours	Prison Futures scheme (39 hours)
Hull	£30,902	£32,85	£34,800	N/A
Liverpool	£30,902	£32,851	£34,800	N/A

North West

Prison	37 hours	39 hours	41 hours	Prison Futures scheme (39 hours)
Hindley	£30,902	£32,851	£34,800	£34,851*
Lancaster Farms	£30,902	£32,851	£34,800	£34,851*
Manchester	£30,902	£32,85	£34,800	£32,851
Preston	£30,902	£32,851	£34,800	£32,851
Risley	£30,902	£32,851	£34,800	N/A

North East

Prison	37 hours	39 hours	41 hours	Prison Futures scheme (39 hours)
Frankland	£30,902	£32,851	£34,800	£32,851
Humber	£30,902	£32,851	£34,800	£36,351*
Leeds	£30,902	£32,851	£34,800	N/A
Manchester	£30,902	£32,85	£34,800	£32,851
Wakefield	£30,902	£32,851	£34,800	£36,351*

North West

Prison	37 hours	39 hours	41 hours	Prison Futures scheme (39 hours)
Buckley	£30,902	£32,851	£34,800	N/A
Liverpool	£30,902	£32,851	£34,800	N/A

South East

Prison	37 hours	39 hours	41 hours	Prison Futures scheme (39 hours)
Exeter	£30,902	£32,851	£34,800	£32,851

Wales

Prison	37 hours	39 hours	41 hours	Prison Futures scheme (39 hours)
Cardiff	£30,902	£30,902	£34,800	N/A

All other prisons

37 hours	39 hours	41 hours
£30,902	£32,851	£34,800