Probation officer
Probation officers supervise people serving community and prison sentences and help them to stay away from crime.
What you'll do
Day-to-day tasks
As a probation officer, you could:
- interview offenders before sentencing or parole
- make sure offenders attend supervision appointments and rehabilitation programmes
- run programmes designed to change offenders' behaviour
- assess risks and write reports to help prisons and parole review boards make decisions
- work with victims of crime when prisoners are considered for parole
- help clients to get work or training, housing, or drug and alcohol treatment
- work closely with other agencies to manage risks and reduce reoffending
Working environment
You could work in a prison, in a court, in an office or in the community.
Your working environment may be emotionally demanding.
Career path and progression
After further training, you could specialise in working with certain groups, like high-risk prisoners or those who have committed sexual offences.
With experience, you could become a senior probation officer.
Further promotion usually means moving into management and away from direct work with offenders. You could also become an area manager.
What it takes
Skills and knowledge
You'll need:
- knowledge of public safety and security
- patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
- excellent verbal communication skills
- to be thorough and pay attention to detail
- to be flexible and open to change
- the ability to work on your own
- the ability to understand people’s reactions
- counselling skills including active listening and a non-judgemental approach
- to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently
Restrictions and Requirements
You'll need to:
- pass enhanced background checks as you may work with children and vulnerable adults
How to become
You can get into this job through:
- a university course
- working towards this role
- applying directly
You can do a foundation degree, higher national diploma or degree in:
- criminology
- sociology
- psychology
- youth and community work
Similar subjects may be acceptable.
Once you finish your course you can apply for the Professional Qualification in Probation (PQiP) training programme. You need to complete this to become a qualified probation officer.
The PQiP programme takes between 15 and 21 months to complete, depending on what you studied at university.
Entry requirements
You'll usually need:
- 1 or 2 A levels, or equivalent, for a foundation degree or higher national diploma
- 2 to 3 A levels, or equivalent, for a degree
More Information
You could start work as a probation services officer. Once you've built up your experience and completed on-the-job training, you could apply to join the Professional Qualification in Probation (PQiP) programme.
You'll be expected to have paid or voluntary experience of working with vulnerable people, or people with challenging behaviour, before you apply for training. You can get this by working with charities and organisations that support ex-offenders.
Go to Do IT and NCVO for information on voluntary opportunities in your area.
You may be able to apply directly for a trainee probation officer job if you already have a qualification at Level 5 or above. For example, a social work degree that includes a probation option.
Career tips
It will help if you have some knowledge of how the criminal justice and rehabilitation systems work.
Professional and industry bodies
You can join the Probation Institute for professional development opportunities.
Further information
You'll find more on how to become a probation officer from HM Prison & Probation Service.
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This page contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.