Eligibility

In addition to any entry qualifications and competencies advertised for certain jobs, all applicants for any post within the Prison Service must meet the following minimum eligibility requirements:

Age

All posts within the Prison Service, except that of Prison Officer (see below), are open to those who will be aged under 65 at the time of taking up appointment.

Nationality

Nationality The Civil Service nationality rules apply to all posts in the Prison Service. In order to be eligible for employment an applicant must be one of the following:

• A commonwealth citizen
• A British Protected person
• A national of the European Economic Area (EEA) (see below)
• Non-EEA nationals who are family members of an EEA national from another member state (non-UK) who has moved to the UK for an approved purpose.

The category of family members are:

• The EEA national's spouse (this does not normally include the spouse of a UK national
• A descendant of an EEA national or the spouse who is under 21 years of age
• A dependant relative in the ascending line of the EEA national or the spouse
• People with any other nationality cannot be employed in the Prison Service unless they fall within the terms of the Aliens' Employment Act 1955.

List of European Economic Area (EEA) Member States:

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria**, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, The Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania**, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland*, United Kingdom.

*An international treaty means that from 1 June 2002 Swiss nationals have a similar right to live in the UK as EEA nationals.

** From 1 January 2007 Bulgaria and Romania joined the EEA. The UK is limiting access for low-skilled workers from these countries to its labour market, restricting them to existing quota based schemes which will fill vacancies in the agricultural and food processing sectors. Skilled workers will continue to be able to work in the UK if they get a work permit, qualify under the Highly Skilled Migrant Programme, are a student, or self employed. Consequently Prison Service vacancies are not currently open to nationals from these countries.

Immigration

In order to be employed within the Prison Service you must be free from immigration control and have no time restrictions on your stay in the UK. For some specialist posts or where the field of applicants is likely to be very small the Prison Service may consider a commonwealth citizen who has time restrictions on their stay, however this information will be included upon the advert and any appointment terminated at the end of the period of their permitted stay in the UK.

Candidates for Prison Officer posts or those applying under the Intensive Development Scheme must have indefinite leave to remain in the UK.

Residency

For most posts within the Prison Service there is no residency requirement. However, some posts do require a national security vetting level and for these posts applicants should normally have been resident in the United Kingdom for three years prior to their application.

In certain circumstances it may be possible to obtain the necessary security clearance for applicants who do not meet the residency requirements. However, this would need to be considered on an individual basis.

Membership of groups or organisations considered to be racist

You must not be a member of a group or organisation that the Prison Service considers to have racist philosophy, aims, principles or policies.

Freemason declaration

Government policy requires all new appointees to certain posts in the criminal justice system to declare whether or not they are Freemasons. This policy applies to all Prison Service posts. Any offer of appointment will therefore be conditional upon you completing a declaration about whether or not you are a Freemason.

Bankruptcy

You must not be an undischarged bankrupt.

Criminal Records Bureau

If the post applied for involves contact with children under the age of 18, appointment will be subject to an enhanced disclosure being obtained from the Criminal Records Bureau. This is a check to ensure you are a suitable person to work with children.

Prison Officer minimum eligibility requirements

In addition to normal eligibility requirements for entry to the Prison Service all prison officer applicants and those applying under the Intensive Development Scheme are required to meet additional eligibility requirements (pdf).