Probation officer

Probation officers supervise criminal offenders before their trial, during a prison or community sentence and after their release. Their main role is to protect the public by encouraging offenders to lead a law-abiding life. Probation officers are employed by the National Probation Service, and work in prisons, courts, hostels and day centres throughout the country.

Work activities

There are two main roles in the National Probation Service: probation service officer (PSO) and probation officer. Probation officers are employed to work with the most serious cases.

Probation officers work with criminal offenders with the aim of encouraging them to lead law-abiding lives. They supervise offenders before their trial, during a prison or community sentence and after their release. During a trial, probation officers from a court team offer magistrates and judges independent advice and information relating to the offender. They usually provide this advice in a pre-sentence report (PSR). The PSR gives information about the offence, the personal circumstances of the person found guilty, the likelihood of re-offending and (if appropriate) the most suitable community (i.e. non-prison) sentence. When writing the PSR, probation officers must consider what motivated the offender to commit the crime and the impact of the crime on the victim/s. The officer must put together a proposal that clearly shows how a community sentence would act as a punishment as well as tackling the offender’s problems in a positive, constructive way. The officer also has to include a plan in the PSR, to show how the offender would be supervised if they receive a community order, sometimes referred to as community sentences, are imposed in criminal proceedings. The intention is that the sentence is served in the community under the supervision of the National Probation Service and is intended as a punishment. Community service orders restrict an offender’s movements or activity, as well as encouraging attendance at activities or treatment-based interventions intended to assist in rehabilitating an offender of helping them to come to terms with the consequences of their actions.

Judges or magistrates can impose different types of community orders and they can impose conditions to those orders. Conditions are requirements on the order to enable the offender to address their offending behaviour. Conditions that the courts can attach to a community order include:

Supervision by the National Probation Service, including regular meetings with a probation officer.
Unpaid work/community payback.
Curfew: An offender to stay within the confines of their home during certain hours. Curfews are usually electronically monitored with a tag.
Accredited programmes: To address behavioural issues such as general offending, violence, sex offending, drug or alcohol abuse, domestic violence and drink driving.
Specified activities, for example improving basic skills.
Prohibition: To prevent an offender from undertaking certain activities. For example, going to football matches, a particular pub or an area such as a specified shopping centre.
Exclusion: Excludes an offender from entering certain areas.
Residence: Requires an offender to live at a certain address.
Mental health treatment: This can only be imposed with the consent of the offender and is done under the direction of a doctor.
Drug rehabilitation: If the offender recognises that they have a substance misuse problem and the offender wants help in breaking their addictions.
Attendance centre: To attend a particular centre during their sentence.
Alcohol treatment: An offender accepts that they have an alcohol problem and seeks help from the court and National Probation Service.

Personal qualities and skills

As a probation officer, you need:

Good communication and interpersonal skills.
To establish a constructive relationship with offenders.
The ability to ask the right questions to find out more about the offence, and the offender’s social and financial circumstances.
To know when to be firm and assertive, and when and how to defuse potential confrontations.
To express yourself confidently in court.
Good teamworking skills to work closely with other professionals within the criminal justice system.
The ability to put together clear, logical, and impartial recommendations in pre-sentence reports.
Resilience – the ability to manage the challenges you encounter when dealing with offenders.

Pay and opportunities

Probation officers are paid on a rising scale, within pay bands. The pay rates given are approximate. Probation officers earn in the range £22,250 per year, rising to £40,000 in the most senior positions.

Probation officers usually work 36-38 hours per week. You may need to work some evenings, nights and weekends, usually on a rota. Part-time opportunities are also available.

Opportunities for probation officers occur throughout the UK. Probation officers are employed by the National Probation Service and work in the community, courts, hostels, day centres and prisons.

Where are vacancies advertised?

Vacancies are advertised in local newspapers, on local Probation Service websites, on the Government’s Find a Job service. Probation officers are usually recruited from those already working in the National Probation Service as a probation service officers.

Entry routes and training

You may be able to do a probation officer Degree Apprenticeship.

Probation officers are usually graduates. Relevant degrees include:

Criminology
Sociology
Psychology
Youth and community work

Other subjects may be acceptable. To become a probation officer, you must follow a post-graduate professional qualification in probation training programme.

Once employed, in-service training is available to develop probation officers’ skills in relevant areas.

With experience, it is possible for probation officers to progress to supervisory and management positions.

Rehabilitation of Offenders Act: This career is an exception to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. This means that you must supply information to an employer about any spent or unspent convictions, cautions, reprimands or warnings, if they ask you to. This is different from other careers, where you only have to reveal information on unspent convictions if you are asked to.

Qualifications

For entry to a relevant degree course, the usual requirement is:

Two to three A-levels.
GCSEs (grades 9-4) in two to three other subjects.

Other qualifications, such as an Edexcel (BTEC) level 3 National qualification or the International Baccalaureate Diploma could also be considered. Entry requirements for degree courses vary, so check prospectuses carefully.

Probation officers may be employed from those who have achieved the required degree/graduate diploma and vocational qualification while employed as a probation service officer (PSO). There are no strict qualification requirements to become a PSO.

Adult opportunities

Age limits: It is illegal for any organisation to set age limits for entry to employment, education or training, unless they can show there is a real need to have these limits.

A responsible approach is viewed positively by employers. When recruiting probation service officers (often the gateway to a role as a probation officer), Probation Services look for people who have relevant skills and abilities, preferably including some time spent in a supervisory role.

Related careers

Community Worker
Police Officer
Prison Governor
Prison Officer
Probation Service Officer