Prison Officer Fitness Test 2026: What Is Official vs Reported

In shortHMPPS names a bleep test, a 7 kg riot shield hold and a grip test after the medical, but publishes no pass levels.

HMPPS's how-to-apply page, opened on 3 October 2026, describes the fitness assessment in two parts. The first tests endurance and agility with a bleep test using a shuttle run between two points. The second tests upper-body strength by holding a 7 kg riot shield and gripping a piece of equipment.

The test comes after the medical, at the same designated centre, and the medical itself includes an eye test, a hearing test and a blood pressure check with basic health screening. That is all HMPPS publishes about the content.

In shortThe widely quoted figures are third-party and attributed to a 2019 document we could not open: use them as a rough target, not a guarantee.

• Bleep testLevel 5.415-metre shuttle run
• Grip25 kgIn both hands
• Shield1 minute7 kg shield held at shoulder height
• Agility run34 secondsCourse and distance not verified

Prison-officer-online-ac.co.uk (listed by Ofsted as the HMPPS Learning Centre's website) and some search snippets cite a set of figures that they attribute to an HMPPS guidance document, 'Prison Officer Applicants: Health Information and fitness standard guidance', dated February 2019.

A 2022 Inside Time article described five tests (bleep, grip, upper-body strength, speed agility and shield hold).

In shortAim to complete the reported level at a comfortable effort with a margin, and practise on the same shuttle length your assessment uses.

A bleep test, also called the multi-stage fitness test, has you run back and forth between two lines in time with recorded bleeps. The bleeps get closer together as the levels increase, so you must run faster to arrive at the line before the next bleep.

If you miss the bleep at the line twice, the test usually ends and your level is recorded.

HMPPS describes the prison officer version as 'a bleep test with a shuttle run between 2 points', and the third-party reports describe 15-metre shuttles.

Bleep test (multi-stage fitness test)

Back-and-forth running between two lines in time with recorded bleeps that get closer together as levels increase.

Missed bleep

If you miss the bleep at the line twice, the test usually ends and your level is recorded.

In shortThe tests check endurance and steadiness with a 7 kg shield and a grip dynamometer, not a single maximal lift.

The official page names a grip test and a 7 kg riot shield. The shield is a realistic stand-in for the kind of equipment officers use in planned interventions, so the test is checking that you can hold a shield steady rather than lift it once.

Reported standards describe holding it at shoulder height for one minute. Think of it as an isometric endurance test: the muscles of the shoulders, upper back, arms and core hold the position while fatigue builds.

Grip test

Uses a dynamometer. Reported thresholds are 25 kg in both hands. Most healthy adults can reach that, but the result can be affected by hand size, injury, arthritis and previous practice. If you have a wrist or hand condition, declare it at the medical and ask about adjustments.

Shield hold

A 7 kg riot shield, reported as held at shoulder height for one minute.

Agility run

Reported at 34 seconds. We could not verify the course, the distance or the equipment, so we do not describe it.

In shortAn occupational health professional checks eyes, hearing and blood pressure; the numbers quoted online are reported, not official.

• Centres6Swindon, Cambridge, South London (Croydon), Rugby (Newbold Revel), Leeds and Manchester
• Travel expensesUp to £100For UK travel

The medical assessment is carried out by a trained occupational health professional and covers an eye test, a hearing test, a blood pressure check and basic health screening. It is not available outside the UK, and travel expenses of up to £100 are available for UK travel.

Take your glasses or contact lenses, and read your invitation letter for what to bring.

In shortNo longer: the Pay Review Body says the test is not repeated after appointment, except for certain specialist roles.

The Pay Review Body's twenty-fifth report (March 2026, paragraph 2.51) says the fitness test is not repeated once an officer is appointed, except for certain specialist roles.

That contradicts a 2022 Inside Time article which reported an annual fitness test with dismissal or regrade after three failures. We treat the 2022 report as dated and the 2026 report as current, and we say that fitness testing after appointment applies to specialist roles only.

In shortThe published failure-rate figures for women are dated 2022, and we do not know whether they hold now.

• Women failing first attempt (dated)8%Eight months to February 2022
• Men failing first attempt (dated)1.8%Same period, Inside Time, 5 April 2022
• Women among applicants34.4%Band 3 and youth justice worker applicants, 24 months to June 2026
• Women among accepted offers25.4%Same period

The Inside Time article of 5 April 2022 reported that, in the eight months to February 2022, female prison officer applicants failed the fitness test at first attempt at 8% compared with 1.8% for men, and that a menopause deferral of up to six months had been introduced.

These are dated figures, and we do not know whether they hold now.

In shortBuild volume gradually over ten weeks: three runs and two short strength sessions a week, then practise the test itself.

The plan below is general fitness advice, not an HMPPS-approved programme. If you have a health condition or have not exercised for some time, check with your GP first. The principle is progressive overload: building volume and intensity gradually, with at least one rest day between hard sessions.

It assumes you can currently jog for ten minutes. If not, start with run-walk intervals for the first weeks.

In shortUnlike HMPPS, the SPS publishes specific numbers, but they apply only to Scotland and cannot be used to infer the English and Welsh standard.

• Treadmill run600 m in 3:45At 6.4 mph (10.3 km/h), including 15 seconds of acceleration
• Grip32 / 30 kgfDominant / non-dominant hand
• Push and pull34 kg eachSeated bench press and bench pull
• Shield hold1 minute120 cm riot shield, two hands

The SPS pre-employment checks and fitness standards document sets the standard in the table below. One retake is available. The test is held at the SPS College or HMP Grampian.

This is useful as a comparison and, if you want to work in Scotland, as your actual target. It also gives a sense of what a published standard looks like, which highlights what is missing south of the border.

In shortThe current retake rules are not published: ask the recruitment team, and tell them about any injury or health condition before your assessment date.

The current rules on failing the fitness test and retaking it are not published on the pages we read. A 2018 HMPPS blog said that candidates who were close to passing could be invited to retry, but it is dated, so we do not state it as the current rule.

If you do not pass, ask the recruitment team what the options are and how long you must wait. The six-month wait quoted in the current advert applies to failing the assessment centre, not explicitly to the fitness test.