Prison instructor

Prison instructors teach prisoners new skills to help them find work after their release.

Also known as: Instructional officer

• Starter salary£27,000 a year
• Experienced£32,000 a year
• Typical hours37 to 39 a week

What you'll do

As a prison instructor, you could:

• act as a role model for prisoners
• introduce new prisoners to the workshop health and safety rules
• update prisoners' learning and attendance records
• support prisoners working towards qualifications
• monitor discipline and behaviour
• keep the workshop area and tools safe and in working order
• maintain stocks of equipment and materials

Working environment

You could work in a prison or in a workshop.

Your working environment may be outdoors some of the time and physically and emotionally demanding.

Skills and knowledge you'll need

You'll need:

• the ability to teach learners how to do something
• the ability to create the best conditions for learning or teaching new things
• sensitivity and understanding
• the ability to work well with others
• to be flexible and open to change
• excellent verbal communication skills
• customer service skills
• patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
• to be able to use a computer and the main software packages confidently

How to become a prison instructor

You can get into this job through:

• a college course
• applying directly

College

You'll need, or be prepared to work towards, a level 3 work-related qualification in your subject area or trade.

You may also find it useful to do qualifications in assessment, like the Level 3 Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement.

Entry requirements

You may need:

• GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths

Direct application

You could apply directly if you have experience and qualifications in the vocational area you want to teach, along with experience of supervising others.

You will usually need to do a Level 3 Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement. Employers will sometimes pay for this.

Restrictions and requirements

You'll need to:

• pass enhanced background checks

You will also need to meet HM Prison & Probation Service entry requirements , which include nationality and security checks.

Career path and progression

With experience, you could become a learning and skills manager, employment adviser or wider general manager within the prison service.

You could specialise in one type of training, such as:

• construction skills, like joinery or bricklaying
• horticulture
• vehicle maintenance

You could also work in other areas of training or instructing.

Career tips

You can use the HM Prison & Probation Service online career matching tool to explore the range of careers available.

Guides for this industry

• Education & Teaching: pay, interviews and getting started →

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Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0