Youth Justice Worker – Advance into Justice
| Posting date: | 12 December 2025 |
|---|---|
| Hours: | Full time |
| Closing date: | 11 January 2026 |
| Location: | National |
| Remote working: | On-site only |
| Company: | Ministry of Justice |
| Job type: | Permanent |
| Job reference: | 12706 |
Summary
Advance into Justice Youth Justice Worker – At various Youth Justice Sites
Starting salary: £35,875 (for a 39 hour week inc 20% unsocial)
Vacancy type: Merit
Advance into Justice is a recruitment scheme targeted at supporting those who have served in the Armed Forces and their families into employment within operational roles within HMPPS.
Advance into Justice is open to Service Leavers, Armed Forces Veterans, their Spouses and Legal Partners.
Eligible applicants who pass our assessment processes will be offered a 2-year fixed-term appointment with the option after 12 months, to convert to permanency, subject to approval, under Exception 10 of the Civil Service recruitment principles.
All provisional offers will be held for a period of 12 months from the point of offer, to allow service leavers to plan for their exit from the Armed Forces and transition directly into a career with HMPPS.
Applicants are required to pick 3 establishment preferences
Someone like you
The Youth Custody Service is transforming its workforce and we want you to help us on this journey. The youth justice worker role is a based on the prison officer role, but specific to working in youth custody. It will be a driving force for changing the way children and young people are cared for in custody.
We are looking for people who have a special talent in helping young people.
You will be responsible for ensuring the security and safety of children and supporting them day-to-day in a custodial environment. You’ll get training and development to ensure you have a clear understanding of the individual circumstances for young people in custody, and how your reactions in complex or dynamic situations are key to ensuring these children are helped to build better lives.
You will support children and young people who may have committed serious crimes, grown up in difficult settings, or have mental health concerns.
You will need a DBS check.
An extraordinary job
Become part of a real team and help to protect the public.
You’ll work directly with children and young people who have committed offences, helping them to develop new skills while playing multiple different roles within one day be that a peacekeeper, a teacher, a counsellor or a mentor. You will act as a role model to children and young people in custody, providing them with the opportunities to better their future.
To become a youth justice worker, you will need to:
• be at least 18 years old at the commencement of employment
• meet the Civil Service Nationality requirements
• pass a medical and fitness assessment
• meet the required eyesight standard in both eyes
• for safety reasons, meet a suitable standard of hearing.
Find out more about being a youth justice worker.
Pay
Please refer to main advert for pay scales for individual prisons.
Benefits
Please refer to main advert for benefits.
Assessment Process
During the recruitment process you will be assessed on the behaviours, strengths and abilities you need to become an effective youth justice worker. These include:
• communicating and influencing
• managing a quality service
• making effective decisions
• Caring
You will be invited to complete the online test, to see if you have the basic judgement and numerical skills expected of a youth justice worker.
If you pass the online test, we will invite you to an online assessment centre.
Read more about the application process.
Job offers: Merit Vacancy
This is a merit job vacancy. If you are successful at the online assessment centre, you will be added to a merit list based on your score.
When all applicants have completed the assessment centre, the prison will make job offers to individuals with the highest scores first when positions become available.
You can stay on the merit list for 12 months. After this, you’ll need to apply again.
Operational Support Grade Role
Our Online Assessment Centre (OAC), will not only assess you against the key criteria to become a youth justice worker but will also determine your suitability for appointment as an operational support grade OSG If following attendance at your OAC, you are unsuccessful in your application to become a youth justice worker, we may instead offer you an alternative role as an OSG.
Disability support
As a Disability Confident employer, the Ministry of Justice is committed to providing everyone with the opportunity to demonstrate their skills, talent and abilities, by making adjustments throughout all elements of the recruitment process and in the workplace. You will be able to request reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process within the application form. We can offer reasonable adjustments to help with the online tests and online assessment centre.
If you need assistance, please call 0345 241 5358 (Monday to Friday 8am-6pm) or email MoJ-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com.
Starting salary: £35,875 (for a 39 hour week inc 20% unsocial)
Vacancy type: Merit
Advance into Justice is a recruitment scheme targeted at supporting those who have served in the Armed Forces and their families into employment within operational roles within HMPPS.
Advance into Justice is open to Service Leavers, Armed Forces Veterans, their Spouses and Legal Partners.
Eligible applicants who pass our assessment processes will be offered a 2-year fixed-term appointment with the option after 12 months, to convert to permanency, subject to approval, under Exception 10 of the Civil Service recruitment principles.
All provisional offers will be held for a period of 12 months from the point of offer, to allow service leavers to plan for their exit from the Armed Forces and transition directly into a career with HMPPS.
Applicants are required to pick 3 establishment preferences
Someone like you
The Youth Custody Service is transforming its workforce and we want you to help us on this journey. The youth justice worker role is a based on the prison officer role, but specific to working in youth custody. It will be a driving force for changing the way children and young people are cared for in custody.
We are looking for people who have a special talent in helping young people.
You will be responsible for ensuring the security and safety of children and supporting them day-to-day in a custodial environment. You’ll get training and development to ensure you have a clear understanding of the individual circumstances for young people in custody, and how your reactions in complex or dynamic situations are key to ensuring these children are helped to build better lives.
You will support children and young people who may have committed serious crimes, grown up in difficult settings, or have mental health concerns.
You will need a DBS check.
An extraordinary job
Become part of a real team and help to protect the public.
You’ll work directly with children and young people who have committed offences, helping them to develop new skills while playing multiple different roles within one day be that a peacekeeper, a teacher, a counsellor or a mentor. You will act as a role model to children and young people in custody, providing them with the opportunities to better their future.
To become a youth justice worker, you will need to:
• be at least 18 years old at the commencement of employment
• meet the Civil Service Nationality requirements
• pass a medical and fitness assessment
• meet the required eyesight standard in both eyes
• for safety reasons, meet a suitable standard of hearing.
Find out more about being a youth justice worker.
Pay
Please refer to main advert for pay scales for individual prisons.
Benefits
Please refer to main advert for benefits.
Assessment Process
During the recruitment process you will be assessed on the behaviours, strengths and abilities you need to become an effective youth justice worker. These include:
• communicating and influencing
• managing a quality service
• making effective decisions
• Caring
You will be invited to complete the online test, to see if you have the basic judgement and numerical skills expected of a youth justice worker.
If you pass the online test, we will invite you to an online assessment centre.
Read more about the application process.
Job offers: Merit Vacancy
This is a merit job vacancy. If you are successful at the online assessment centre, you will be added to a merit list based on your score.
When all applicants have completed the assessment centre, the prison will make job offers to individuals with the highest scores first when positions become available.
You can stay on the merit list for 12 months. After this, you’ll need to apply again.
Operational Support Grade Role
Our Online Assessment Centre (OAC), will not only assess you against the key criteria to become a youth justice worker but will also determine your suitability for appointment as an operational support grade OSG If following attendance at your OAC, you are unsuccessful in your application to become a youth justice worker, we may instead offer you an alternative role as an OSG.
Disability support
As a Disability Confident employer, the Ministry of Justice is committed to providing everyone with the opportunity to demonstrate their skills, talent and abilities, by making adjustments throughout all elements of the recruitment process and in the workplace. You will be able to request reasonable adjustments to the recruitment process within the application form. We can offer reasonable adjustments to help with the online tests and online assessment centre.
If you need assistance, please call 0345 241 5358 (Monday to Friday 8am-6pm) or email MoJ-recruitment-vetting-enquiries@gov.sscl.com.