Probation Pathway

PQiP to PSO

The Probation Service may offer ‘alternative roles’ to candidates who are unsuccessful in passing the assessment process for their first-choice role. This is only available on specific recruitment campaigns where the Probation Service can assess the criteria for the alternative role as part of the assessment process for the initial role.

You have applied for a campaign which will not only assess you against the key criteria to become a Probation Officer but will also determine your suitability for an alternative Probation Services Officer role.
This process is outlined below –

Diagram showing the PQiP to PSO process.

If eligible to be offered a secondary role, you may be allocated a post based on merit score (based on performance at the interview element of your assessment center, location preference (taken from your PQiP application) and available vacancies at the time of allocation. If no suitable vacancy is available, you will be offered a place on a reserve list for potential draw down to a suitable vacancy if one becomes available over the course of the following 12 months.

What is a Probation Services Officer (PSO)?

As a PSO, you will undertake the full range of work with offenders on probation before and after sentence and in the community. This could include:

Assessing risks and organising interventions
Supporting courts with sentencing decisions
Managing offenders on probation throughout their conviction
Writing and preparing reports

It is a varied role and your area of focus might differ depending on the needs of the local probation team that you join. This could include sentence management, court officer, victim liaison officer, programme facilitator, pre-release team or personality disorder programme. Once in post, there may be opportunities to move between different types of PSO roles, depending on caseload and business need.

No matter what type of PSO role you undertake, you will:

Do everything you can to help people turn their lives around and reduce the risks of reoffending
Draw on the training you receive to assess and manage the risks to keep the community safe.

We will give you all the training you need including a comprehensive induction.

Probation services officer - Ministry of Justice

What will my starting salary be in a PSO post?

Is there a route to progress from a PSO to PQiP at a later stage?

As part of our commitment to staff development, there is the opportunity to join the PSO Progression pathway and undertake the Professional Qualification in Probation (PQiP) to become a fully qualified probation officer.

Probation Service (traintobeaprobationofficer.com)

The PSO role will give you significant knowledge and experience of how probation services operate. It also provides a gateway to a wide range of other HMPPS jobs.

Can I still apply for PQiP in the future?

Can I declare a location preference?

Will I receive training to become a PSO?

You will receive all the training you need to do your job well. There is dedicated learning and development to help you engage with people on probation in the most effective way. As a PSO, you will have many opportunities to develop in your role and to make the first step in a successful career in the Probation Service.

In your first year, you will receive the following training:

A comprehensive induction, including the Gateway to Practice which is the first step on your learning journey.
The PSO learning and development programme which is a blended learning package designed to equip you with the skills and knowledge required for the role.
Mapped out learning and development.
Supervised and assessed practice.