HM Prison and Probation Service

Unclaimed profile

Uh oh. HM Prison and Probation Service hasn’t committed to creating great jobs yet.

Breakroom helps companies reach the next generation of candidates.

If you’re from head office, sign up here to get started on your Breakroom journey.

Claim your profile

Dismiss

HM Prison and Probation Service run prisons and probation services across England and Wales.

gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-prison-service

HM Prison and Probation Service job reviews

Showing 202 reviews

  • Best thing

    Staff members
    Having a laugh and changing people lives

    Worst thing

    Staff members

    7.3

    HM Prison and Probation Service Prison officer, March 2024

  • Best thing

    Great team

    Worst thing

    Higher ups making decisions without even working the landings

    9.0

    HM Prison and Probation Service Prison officer, March 2024

  • Best thing

    Pay
    No 2 days are the same

    Worst thing

    Stressful
    Lazy management
    Priorities are all wrong

    4.5

    HM Prison and Probation Service Prison officer, March 2024

  • Best thing

    The people I work with

    Worst thing

    Under staffed

    4.9

    HM Prison and Probation Service Employee, February 2024

  • Best thing

    Interviewing people who have committed a crime, write a report for court which offers a sentence proposal.
    Working with solicitors, legal advisers, ushers, magistrates and other agencies.
    Pay is not bad
    Hours are usual working day

    Worst thing

    Team leaders who often do not have a clue about what your daily work entails.
    Probation officers and probation service officers have a high turn over of staff due to the pressure of very high workloads.
    Many staff are taking time off sick due to anxiety.
    Dont get paid for 1 hour lunch break and many staff work their lunch as its not expected but workloads force this to occur.
    There is bullying, lack of consideration or empathy for staff.
    Policies are geared towards the public and everyone else with staff at the bottom.
    As a civil servant, you are expected to do much more for no extra money or lieu time.

    1.4

    HM Prison and Probation Service Employee, February 2024

  • Want to reply to reviews as an employer? Claim your profile
  • Best thing

    The people we work with, their values.

    Worst thing

    Too much HR, policies and procedures to work too. Lost the personal touch

    7.3

    HM Prison and Probation Service Senior Administrator, February 2024

  • Best thing

    Booking holiday, potential to make money through overtime

    Worst thing

    Not safe

    4.1

    HM Prison and Probation Service Prison officer, February 2024

  • Best thing

    Work colleagues and how understanding they are

    Worst thing

    Management ignores your concerns.
    Management does not care if you are doing 2 peoples job, they expect you to do 5 peoples job. When you do Not complete it in time, you get shouted at and a telling off. Which then they treat you arrogantly.

    1.9

    HM Prison and Probation Service Receptionist, January 2024

  • Best thing

    You get what you put in to the job, it's a hard job but full with people who are great to work with.

    Worst thing

    Under valued by the community and not appreciated by the government on the environment that can be improved

    6.2

    HM Prison and Probation Service Employee, December 2023

  • Best thing

    Always something different day to day

    Worst thing

    Not a lot of movement and can be repetitive at times

    8.0

    HM Prison and Probation Service Administrator, December 2023

  • Want to reply to reviews as an employer? Claim your profile
  • Best thing

    Face to face work with service users

    Worst thing

    Office politics and poor organisation structure

    2.5

    HM Prison and Probation Service Employee, December 2023

  • Best thing

    Learning the prisoners and talking to them

    Worst thing

    Violence

    3.7

    HM Prison and Probation Service Prison officer, December 2023

  • Best thing

    The people that you work with every day are brilliant because we are all in it together. There is always something new happening.

    Worst thing

    The shifts are a bit all over the place. Sometimes the management don't realise what actually happens on shift.

    9.8

    HM Prison and Probation Service Prison officer, November 2023

  • Best thing

    Job security
    Good pension
    Opportunities for paid overtime

    Worst thing

    Risk of injury
    Challenging day-to-day

    5.0

    HM Prison and Probation Service Prison officer, November 2023

  • Best thing

    Keeps you challenged

    Worst thing

    Pay, management support, lack of staff, unsafe environment

    4.2

    HM Prison and Probation Service Prison officer, November 2023

  • Want to reply to reviews as an employer? Claim your profile
  • Best thing

    Contributing to positive change

    Worst thing

    Unrealistic timings for completion of admin and the amount of unmeasured tasks which are not reflected in workload measurements

    3.7

    HM Prison and Probation Service Employee, November 2023

  • Best thing

    Flexi time

    Worst thing

    Lack of progression and training opportunities

    8.0

    HM Prison and Probation Service Administrator, November 2023

  • Best thing

    As long as you treat people fairly you're days can be a good laugh and go very smoothly

    Worst thing

    Lack of staff and some staff looking down on others

    9.9

    HM Prison and Probation Service Chef, October 2023

  • Best thing

    It's so rewarding when someone you support finally makes positive changes in their life.

    Worst thing

    The stress, the lack of staff, the pay in comparison to the harm you may experience.

    4.9

    HM Prison and Probation Service Employee, October 2023

  • Best thing

    Good pay, benefits and holidays

    Worst thing

    High workload, poor training

    7.3

    HM Prison and Probation Service Employee, October 2023

  • Want to reply to reviews as an employer? Claim your profile
  • Best thing

    Flexitime working, colleagues in my team

    Worst thing

    Pay, lack of appreciation for admin from rest of office, high workload

    4.1

    HM Prison and Probation Service Administrator, October 2023

  • Best thing

    The ability to make a difference, variety, Flexibility,

    Worst thing

    Bureaucracy, Caseload, High level of responsibility, High public expectations

    8.3

    HM Prison and Probation Service Employee, October 2023

  • Best thing

    My team
    The service users

    Worst thing

    Statistics and data
    The management

    4.1

    HM Prison and Probation Service Employee, September 2023

  • Best thing

    The people along side me

    Worst thing

    Management

    5.0

    HM Prison and Probation Service Prison officer, September 2023

  • Best thing

    Working with lots of different people
    Supportive colleagues and managers
    Interesting

    Worst thing

    Being short staffed
    Constantly changes to processes
    Too much paperwork and processes to do, many of which are duplication, just to give the quality control team something to do

    8.3

    HM Prison and Probation Service Employee, September 2023

  • Want to reply to reviews as an employer? Claim your profile
  • Best thing

    People in the office, interesting work, job prospects

    Worst thing

    Unreasonable Manager

    8.5

    HM Prison and Probation Service Administrator, September 2023

  • Best thing

    Be able to help other

    Worst thing

    No support

    6.0

    HM Prison and Probation Service Prison officer, August 2023

  • Best thing

    I help people who come out of prison or punished to community punished and try to change their lives.

    Worst thing

    The leadership, paperwork and lack of staff.

    7.7

    HM Prison and Probation Service Employee, August 2023

  • Best thing

    Pay. Work colleagues.

    Worst thing

    Prisoners being aggressive.

    9.8

    HM Prison and Probation Service Prison officer, August 2023

  • Best thing

    Team, restraints, making small differences, keeping bad people away from family

    Worst thing

    Unsure what you are walking into, prison system doesn't actually work for extreme cases

    8.0

    HM Prison and Probation Service Prison officer, August 2023

  • Want to reply to reviews as an employer? Claim your profile
  • Best thing

    Good teamwork and great staff . Every day is different

    Worst thing

    Dangerous .
    Understaffed .

    7.0

    HM Prison and Probation Service Employee, July 2023

  • Best thing

    People around you.

    Worst thing

    People around you.

    7.8

    HM Prison and Probation Service Prison officer, July 2023

  • Best thing

    Good teams

    Worst thing

    Poor decisions by powers that be

    8.6

    HM Prison and Probation Service Employee, July 2023

  • Best thing

    Random, challenges, responsibility

    Worst thing

    Violence, strenuous shifts, unsafe.

    1.2

    HM Prison and Probation Service Prison officer, July 2023

  • Best thing

    The people

    Worst thing

    The lark of support to progress

    4.9

    HM Prison and Probation Service Administrator, June 2023

  • Want to reply to reviews as an employer? Claim your profile
  • Best thing

    The friends you make

    Worst thing

    Senior management, bullying, corruption from senior management down, nepotism, misogyny, new staff who think they know everything. There is no benefit to working there. No promotions unless corruption, nepotism and boys club have a say. Got idiots for managers

    2.8

    HM Prison and Probation Service Prison officer, June 2023

  • Best thing

    Some good people in the job, enjoyable to work with, but as of late, the bar for new recruits is way too low

    Worst thing

    Shockingly incompetent management, no transferable skills to any other profession, very poor public perception/social standing, essentially a dead end job, fundamentally unsafe, extremely stressful with no real supervision, proper training or support once you go live after the initial training, which in itself, is totally unfit for purpose

    4.6

    HM Prison and Probation Service Prison officer, May 2023

  • Best thing

    The money
    The people you work with
    Days are never boring
    Career progression

    Worst thing

    Stress
    Hours
    Dangerous situations
    The arguments
    The daily danger
    Colleagues not having your back
    Drama

    4.5

    HM Prison and Probation Service Prison officer, May 2023

  • Best thing

    Not micromanaged like some work places

    Worst thing

    Not able to book night shifts off

    6.0

    HM Prison and Probation Service Employee, May 2023

  • Best thing

    Pension

    Worst thing

    No training, unrealistic targets, no benefits or perks

    4.8

    HM Prison and Probation Service Administrator, May 2023

  • Want to reply to reviews as an employer? Claim your profile
  • Best thing

    Working with colleagues I have know for a number of years.

    Worst thing

    Poor management, job for the boys culture, pay and can be dangerous environment to work in

    5.5

    HM Prison and Probation Service Employee, April 2023

  • Best thing

    The team

    Worst thing

    Safety and lack of management communication

    4.1

    HM Prison and Probation Service Prison officer, April 2023

  • Best thing

    Colleagues of same rank. Helping others

    Worst thing

    Managers are bullies

    3.7

    HM Prison and Probation Service Prison officer, April 2023

  • Best thing

    Overtime opportunities

    Worst thing

    Not being able to get time off

    4.1

    HM Prison and Probation Service Prison officer, April 2023

  • Best thing

    Being a probation officer can be a very rewarding role helping those who need support to change their lives.

    Worst thing

    I’m totally stressed out all the time, workloads are unmanageable and managers to do help.

    3.7

    HM Prison and Probation Service Employee, March 2023

  • Want to reply to reviews as an employer? Claim your profile
  • Best thing

    My team

    Worst thing

    Pay, lack of recognition, lack of support, over working, stress, lack of empathy.

    2.7

    HM Prison and Probation Service Employee, March 2023

  • Best thing

    Working with people trying to change.

    Worst thing

    Stress of the job at times.

    6.1

    HM Prison and Probation Service Employee, March 2023

  • Best thing

    Pension
    Money
    Helping others
    People I work with

    Worst thing

    Far away from home
    Long days

    9.5

    HM Prison and Probation Service Administrator, February 2023

  • Best thing

    The constant change and challenge

    Worst thing

    The danger

    8.4

    HM Prison and Probation Service Prison officer, January 2023

  • Best thing

    Secure sector, overtime available, varied roles

    Worst thing

    Face fit culture, inadequate training

    5.5

    HM Prison and Probation Service Employee, January 2023