Youth Justice Worker Application: Tests, Role Plays and Pay

A youth justice worker (YJW) works with children and young people in custody. HMPPS describes the role as supporting 15 to 18 year olds, keeping them safe and secure and helping them day to day with their behaviour, education and activities.

The application is close to the prison officer process, with one important difference: the online assessment centre includes two role plays, not one. This guide covers each stage, the training and qualification, pay, and how to approach the role plays with young people.

Where youth justice workers work

HMPPS lists three young offender institutions (YOIs) for the role:

• HM YOI Feltham (Outer London)
• HM YOI Wetherby (West Yorkshire)
• HM YOI Werrington (Stoke-on-Trent)

Eligibility

• At least 18 when you start.
• Right to work in the UK and Civil Service eligibility.
• Pass a medical and fitness assessment, including hearing and eyesight. The assessment centre site says the hearing standard must be met without hearing aids, for safety reasons.
• Skills for working with children and young people, and a commitment to completing a Level 4 child-focused qualification.
• Fluent English, or Welsh where applicable in Wales.
• No formal qualifications are required.
• Tattoos are allowed unless offensive, discriminatory, violent or intimidating. Facial tattoos are generally not accepted except for cultural, religious or medical reasons.

The stages and timeline

HMPPS says the YJW process takes 6 to 8 months on average from application to your first day.

Stage	What happens	Time
Application	Eligibility questions, personal details, option to be considered for OSG	Short online form
Scenario-Based Test (SBT)	Numeracy and behavioural scenarios	Around 25 to 40 minutes
Values-Based Assessment (VBA)	Three behaviours, one technical area and one strength	Up to 20 minutes, no time limit
Online assessment centre	Interview, two role plays, written test	About 2 hours 30 minutes; results within 3 working days
Pre-employment checks	Security, identity, employment history, health	Around 8 to 10 weeks
Medical and fitness	Eyes, hearing, blood pressure; bleep test, 7kg shield hold, grip	At a test centre

The online tests

The SBT checks your numeracy and how you respond in work situations. HMPPS offers a practice test before the real one. The VBA has no time limit but takes up to 20 minutes in one sitting. For YJWs, HMPPS says it assesses three behaviours, one technical area and one strength. It must be completed by the deadline in your invitation.

The online assessment centre

You need a laptop with a webcam. There are four parts:

1. Interview: a mix of strengths questions and behaviour questions. For prison officers, the assessment centre site describes three strengths (up to two questions each) and two behaviours, Communicating and Influencing and Managing a Quality Service. Check your invitation for the YJW version.
2. Role play 1: 10 minutes. An actor plays a prisoner and you play the officer.
3. Role play 2 (YJW only): an additional 10-minute role play involving a young person in custody, assessed on the same four behaviours: Communicating and Influencing, Managing a Quality Service, Making Effective Decisions, and Caring.
4. Written test: 25 minutes, about 2 minutes reading and 23 minutes completing an incident form, assessed on Making Effective Decisions, Caring, and written English.

Medical and fitness

These take place at the same centres as for prison officers: Swindon, Cambridge, South London (Croydon), Rugby, Leeds and Manchester. You can claim up to £100 of UK travel. The fitness test includes a bleep test shuttle run, holding a 7kg riot shield and a grip strength test. For prison officers, the standards are level 5.4 on a 15-metre bleep test, 25kg grip in both hands and the shield held at shoulder height for 1 minute. Check your invitation for the YJW standards.

Pass and merit vacancies

As with prison officers, a pass vacancy gives you the next available post, while a merit vacancy is allocated in order of assessment performance. Results are valid for 12 months. Applying to several locations is allowed, and your scores carry over.

The OSG option

When you apply, you can choose to be considered for an Operational Support Grade (OSG) role at the same time, through the Aspire programme. If you don't succeed as a YJW this time, you may still be offered a support role. Opting in costs you nothing.

Training and qualification

The assessment centre site describes an initial 11-week period:

• Weeks 1 to 2: initial training at your home establishment.
• Weeks 3 to 11: prison officer foundation training with a youth specialism, covering de-escalation, Managing and Minimising Physical Restraint (MMPR), security, and youth-specific approaches including motivational interviewing, restorative justice and trauma-informed practice.

A 12-week YJW course follows. Through it you complete a fully funded Level 4 child-focused qualification, covering speech, language and communication needs, and child protection and safeguarding. You get full pay and expenses throughout training.

Pay

YJWs start at Band 3. HMPPS lists these starting salaries, which include a 20% unsocial hours allowance:

YOI	37 hours	39 hours	41 hours
Feltham (includes £2,000 market supplement)	£40,840	£43,290	£45,379
Werrington	£34,928	£36,816	£39,334
Wetherby	£34,928	£36,816	£39,334

You start on 37 hours and can increase to 39 or 41 after training. When you complete the Level 4 qualification you move up to Band 4, with higher pay, but you lose the market supplement. The pay page says current supplements run "until 31 March 2026", so check the current advert for what applies now.

How to handle a role play with a young person

The second role play is where YJW applicants most often feel unsure. These principles reflect the four behaviours being assessed.

Be calm and steady

Young people in custody may test boundaries, swear, go quiet or get upset quickly. Keep your voice level and your body language open. Your calm sets the tone for the conversation.

Speak clearly and plainly

Use short sentences and everyday words. Check they have understood ("Can you tell me what happens next, so I know I've explained it properly?"). Many young people in custody have speech, language or communication needs, which is why the Level 4 qualification covers them.

Listen first, then explain

Let them say what is wrong. Repeat back what you heard. Only then explain what you can do.

Be honest about limits

If you can't grant a request, say so kindly and give the reason. Offer what you can do: who you will speak to, and when you will come back.

Safeguarding comes first

If a young person tells you something that suggests they or someone else is at risk, don't promise to keep it secret. Explain gently that you may need to pass it on to keep them safe, tell them who you will tell, and reassure them they did the right thing by telling you. Then follow through.

Close with a plan

Finish by agreeing a next step and a time to follow up. Assessors look for organisation and follow-through, which is the Managing a Quality Service behaviour, as well as care.

If you want to practise, our role-play briefs and written exercises include model approaches built around the four behaviours, and our free practice questions cover the online test.

---

prisonofficertest.co.uk is an independent practice site. It is not affiliated with HMPPS, the Ministry of Justice, the Scottish Prison Service, the Northern Ireland Prison Service or any prison operator. Always check your own invitation and the recruiter's current guidance.