Preparing For Your Online Assessment Centre

This short test will confirm you have the basic numerical skills needed to perform your duties as a prison officer.

The question format is very similar to the online numerical test you have already completed, and so you should feel familiar with the type of questions being asked. You will be given 10 minutes to answer 10 questions.

Questions will involve basic functions such as: counting, adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing. You will need to be able to work with ratios and fractions. Questions also require you to extract relevant numerical information from tables and read the time in the 24-hour format. You’ll be able to use a calculator during the test and within the role as a prison officer, to help you with your daily tasks.

How to prepare:

Take the practice tests on the prison and probation jobs website to get you started. Practice using your numerical skills, especially involving each basic function outlined above. There are also some useful resources on the BBC Skillswise Maths website that you may find helpful.

The Written Test checks your written ability and assesses whether you are able to use written sources of information to make effective decisions.

You will be given 40 minutes to answer two exercises, so it will be important to keep track of the time to ensure that you complete the test.

You will type your answers to the two exercises.

We will assess your written responses against the following behaviours:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Managing a Quality Service
• Making Effective Decisions
• Caring

We will also assess your written responses for:

• Ability to write in sentences that show a reasonable understanding of grammar
• Ability to take information from various sources and summarise it in written format

How to prepare:

It is important for you to familiarise yourself with the four assessed behaviours by reading the definitions and watching the associated videos under the Assessment Criteria section of this page.

Practice timing yourself to read and type text. Practice reviewing written sources of information and typing a summary of the information presented. You could identify a couple of news articles on the same topic, and within a short timeframe (e.g. 30 minutes) write a summary of the key issues that were presented across the articles, and any recommendations or decisions you could make from the information you have gathered. Practice explaining what you would do next to help with the situation, and why you would take that course of action.

Check that family or friends can read and understand your responses, to ensure that your write up shows a reasonable understanding of grammar. There are also useful resources on the BBC Skillswise English website which you may find helpful.

During two 10-minute role plays, you will take on the role of a prison officer who is interacting with a prisoner in different scenarios.

The role plays are based upon challenging scenarios that you could be faced with as a prison officer.

We’re looking for natural responses based on the information provided to you prior to and during the role plays. You do not require any prior knowledge of the prison officer job role; what’s important is how you interact and communicate with others.

We will assess your responses against the following behaviours:

• Communicating and Influencing
• Managing a Quality Service
• Making Effective Decisions
• Caring

How to prepare:

It is important for you to familiarise yourself with the four assessed behaviours by reading the definitions and watching the associated videos under the Assessment Criteria section of this page.

During the assessment, treat the role plays exactly as you would a real-life situation. Be yourself; we want to measure your natural responses and not what you think we’re looking for.

The interview is strengths-based and will last for 30 minutes. This means that questions will focus on what motivates and energises you.

Although no specific preparation is required, you may find it helpful to consider why you would like to become a prison officer and reflect upon your strengths prior to your online assessment centre. We’re interested in what motivates and energies you. Some people may find it more difficult to identify their own strengths, so consider talking to family or friends about what strengths they feel you have.

As spoken English is assessed in this Interview, please make sure that other people can understand what you are saying to them. If spoken English is something you struggle with, you could try having a conversation with others and asking for feedback.

You can learn more about strength based interview questions by reading this document.

You have excellent interpersonal skills, communicating clearly, challenging and influencing others with confidence.

You collaborate with others, showing good listening skills and easily developing mutual respect and understanding.

You take pride in yourself and your work and demonstrate a strong work ethic. You manage your own time, quickly adapting to changing circumstances, whilst adhering to processes and rules.

You lead others by taking charge and providing direction, and take personal responsibility for your actions.

You show good judgement and problem-solving ability, using a wide range of information and evidence to build a full picture of a situation to guide your decisions.

You have the confidence to make and stand by your decisions, whilst recognising when to defer to others.

You are open-minded and non-judgemental, treating others with decency and respect.

You develop meaningful relationships, empowering and supporting others, whilst maintaining clear boundaries. You manage others’ expectations and deliver on your promises and commitments.

Numerical Standard

You are able to perform basic mathematical functions such as counting, adding, subtracting, multiplying and dividing. You can work with ratios and fractions. You are able to extract relevant numerical information from tables and can read the time in 24-hour format.

English Standard

You are able to write in sentences that show a reasonable understanding of grammar. You can take information from various sources and summarise it in an understandable format. You are able to speak and understand fluent English.

We’re looking to find out what motivates and energises you. We want to see what your natural strengths are and what interests you.