Prison Officer Salary 2026/27: HMPPS Take-Home
Prison officers in England and Wales are Fair and Sustainable Band 3. From 1 April 2026 the national scale is £29,107 to £30,648 for a 37 hour week, after the 3.5% award the Lord Chancellor accepted in full. Most officers earn more: the Unsocial Working Hours allowance adds 20% and Additional Committed Hours raise the contract above 37 hours, so a 39 hour officer at the top of the scale is on £38,766. Inner London adds a fixed £5,218 to the scale maximum, outer London £3,432.
Typical pay & take-home
- Band 3 base pay
- £36,816
- Typical range
- £29,107–£41,417
- Take-home at median
- £30,027 England, no pension applied — use the salary calculator for your scheme.
At the median for this profession, you earn 6% below the UK full-time median (£39,039), placing you in the bottom 44% of UK earners.
What influences prison officer pay
Base pay is only part of it. The Unsocial Working Hours allowance is 20% of base pay for Bands 3 to 5, and Additional Committed Hours (ACH, or ACHP where pensionable) lift the contract above the 37 hour base week - which is why the published Band 3 scale runs from £29,107 on 37 hours to £41,417 on 41 hours with the allowance.
London is a fixed cash differential rather than a percentage: the scale maximum is the national maximum plus £5,218 inner London or £3,432 outer London, with lower points set in the same proportion. Inner London covers Brixton, Pentonville, Wandsworth and Wormwood Scrubs; outer London covers Belmarsh, Downview, Feltham, High Down and Isis.
Prison staff are civil servants, so the pension is alpha: 4.6% up to £36,199, 5.45% to £56,000, then 7.35%. Unsocial hours and ACHP are pensionable, so taking a 39 hour contract moves most officers from the 4.6% tier to 5.45%. alpha is a net pay arrangement - Income Tax relief on the contribution, but National Insurance is still charged on the full gross.
Career progression
- Operational Support Grade (Band 2): £25,409 base, £31,761 with the 25% unsocial hours allowance.
- Prison Officer (Band 3) entry: £29,107 base on 37 hours.
- Prison Officer (Band 3) top: £30,648 base, or £38,766 on a 39 hour contract with unsocial hours.
- Supervising / Specialist Officer (Band 4): £34,440 base, £43,562 on 39 hours with the allowance.
- Custodial Manager (Band 5): £37,417 to £39,214 base, up to £49,600 on 39 hours with the allowance.
- Head of Function (Band 7): £54,148, or £64,978 with the Required Hours Addition.
Frequently asked questions
- What is take-home for a Band 3 Prison Officer?
- At the top of the national Band 3 scale, £30,648 base pay with a 4.6% alpha contribution leaves about £24,458 a year, or £2,038 a month. On the more typical 39 hour contract with unsocial hours the gross is £38,766, the alpha tier steps up to 5.45%, and take-home is about £29,741 a year or £2,478 a month.
- Does the unsocial hours allowance count for pension?
- Yes. The Unsocial Working Hours allowance is pensionable, and so are Additional Committed Hours where they are the ACHP variant. That matters twice over: it builds more pension under the alpha CARE scheme, which accrues 2.32% of pensionable earnings each year, and it can push you into a higher contribution tier.
- How does Prison Officer pay compare to Police Constable?
- A police constable starts at £31,164 and reaches £50,256 at the top of the seven-point scale on the rates awaiting the determination that implements the 3.5% award from 1 September 2026. The Police Remuneration Review Body recommended 3.9% from 1 September 2026 and the Home Secretary awarded 3.5% instead, so the recommended figures are not what anyone will be paid and the new points are not published yet. That is against £29,107 to £30,648 of prison officer base pay - though prison officers close much of the gap through unsocial hours and committed hours rather than base pay. The bigger difference is pension cost: the police 2015 scheme takes 12.88% to 14.22% of pay against 4.6% to 5.45% for a prison officer in alpha.