Probation officer
Probation officers work with adult offenders, supervising those who are serving non-custodial sentences as well those released from prison on licence. They conduct offender risk assessments in order to protect the public, and ensure offenders' awareness of the impact of their crime on their victims and the public.
They manage and enforce the conditions of community orders, imposed by courts. Community orders are an alternative to a prison sentence and can involve the offender in activities such as unpaid work (also known as community payback), programmes aimed at changing offenders' attitudes and behaviour and alcohol or drug rehabilitation.
Probation officers interact with offenders, victims, police and prison colleagues on a regular basis. They also work closely with local authorities, social services, housing departments and a range of independent and voluntary sector partners.
Probation services are provided by 35 probation trusts in England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own separate system of justice. For more information see:
Work activities vary but typically involve some or all of the following:
In order to undertake probation officer training, you first need to become a probation services officer (PSO). Vacancies for unqualified PSOs are advertised on the websites of individual probation trusts. Once employed as a PSO, there are two routes available that will qualify you to apply for a job as a probation officer.
For route one, you will need to undertake a three-year honours degree in community justice and a Vocational Qualification Diploma in Probation Practice Level 5 (VQ5). To gain access to this route, you will need to have obtained the Vocational Qualification Diploma in Probation Practice Level 3 (VQ3) whilst working as a PSO. Then, in order to qualify as probation officer, you need to study for the honours degree and gain competence for the VQ5. Training is a mixture of academic and practical work. For a significant part of the course you will manage a caseload of offenders and will be managed by senior probation officers. Academic input is delivered by distance learning, as well as regular workshops.
For route two, you need to complete the work-based Graduate Diploma in Community Justice and the VQ5. This route is open to graduates with an honours degree or a joint/combined honours degree that includes a minimum of 50% of one of the following degree subjects:
This route usually takes around 15 months to complete. Selection criteria are determined by local probation trusts in partnership with a designated higher education (HE) provider and focus on your ability to successfully complete the Graduate Diploma within the 15 months.
Qualification does not guarantee a job and you will need to apply for a probation officer position as and when they arise. For more information on how to qualify as a probation officer see Careers in Probation .
Pre-entry experience of working with offenders or other vulnerable groups is usually required when applying for PSO jobs. This can be gained through either paid or voluntary work with probation hostels, prison visiting services, victim support services, youth offending teams or community payback teams.
In Scotland, probation officers are known as criminal justice social workers. Entry is via a four-year honours degree in social work approved by the Scottish Social Services Council . A two-year postgraduate scheme is available for entrants who already possess a degree in another subject. Candidates should have some experience in social work/care. For further information, contact the SSSC.
If you want to work as a probation officer in Northern Ireland, you must be a qualified social worker. Candidates need to have some experience working with offenders and should apply through the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) for a degree in social work. For more information see the Probation Board for Northern Ireland (PBNI) and the Northern Ireland Social Care Council (NISCC) .
Candidates need to show evidence of the following:
For more information, see work experience and internships and search courses and research.
Qualified probation officers are encouraged to engage in continuous professional development (CPD) and to develop themselves professionally through in-service training courses that are relevant to their jobs. Each trust provides their own staff development strategy and plan with a range of professional development opportunities to meet organisational and trust requirements. Probation officers can expect about seven days' training a year, as well as other forms of learning and development. Courses cover areas such as:
Courses may also be available in areas such as training and presentation skills.
With experience and relevant training, it may be possible to specialise in a particular area of probation work, such as working with sex offenders, high-risk offenders or on community payback.
Some probation officers take advantage of secondments that may be offered to spend time working for other agencies, such as in youth offending teams or prisons. Training for those who are thinking of becoming managers may also be available in some trusts.
Further study at Masters level may be possible, depending on the needs of individual trusts.
Once qualified, probation officers with several years' experience can apply for promotion to the role of senior probation officer. A senior probation officer manages a team of probation officers and is responsible for their performance. Other duties are likely to include risk management, meeting targets and working with other agencies such as the police and prison service.
Promotion beyond main grade often involves moving to a managerial level rather than working with offenders and is dependent on experience and ability. Probation area managers, for example, are responsible for the probation service in a designated area and are responsible for a team of senior probation officers. They have little or no contact with offenders and are typically involved in the management of risk to the public.
An assistant chief officer works as part of the senior management team of a probation trust and is likely to have responsibility for a particular part of the trust's work, e.g. operations, business development, risk management or interventions, or for a geographical area. They are unlikely to have any contact with offenders.
There are, however, many opportunities to move sideways and to specialise in different areas of probation work, such as:
Once a probation officer has gained experience, there is also the opportunity to work as an accredited programme tutor and a practice development assessor, supervising trainees.
Probation staff can also be seconded to work in youth offending teams or a wide range of other crime prevention and partner agencies.
Probation officers are employed by probation trusts, and recruitment is managed by the individual trusts. There are 35 probation trusts across England and Wales, which receive funding from the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) to which they are accountable for their performance and delivery. For a full list of trusts see the Ministry of Justice (UK) .
In Scotland, local authority social work departments have responsibility for probation work (known as criminal justice social work) and recruit qualified social workers, known as criminal justice social workers.
In Northern Ireland, probation work is carried out by the Probation Board for Northern Ireland (PBNI) . The PBNI employs more than 400 people, just over half of whom are probation officers (qualified social workers) at 35 different sites across Northern Ireland.
Specialist recruitment agencies such as Criminal Justice Skills and Backstop handle vacancies.
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