Promotion Prep Pack
Know what promotion is worth, build your evidence and practise honestly. One payment, no subscription.
What you get
Pay-impact planner
Compare staying in your band with promoting after any number of months, over five years, with your own pay-award assumption. See how many hours of Payment Plus a month the promotion is worth, and a timing and pay-award scenario table.
Evidence bank
Store real, anonymous examples in situation, task, action, result and reflection form, mapped to nine Civil Service Success Profile behaviours, with a coverage view that shows what you have not evidenced yet.
Assessment practice, clearly labelled
Practice questions for each behaviour, a written-answer space, a self-check list, and optional AI feedback on what you wrote. It is practice material, not the real assessment, and it never predicts an outcome.
12-week preparation plan
A sensible order of work from reading the vacancy pack to submission, with tick-off lists saved in your browser. Compress it if your closing date is closer.
Printable briefing
Your pay numbers, evidence coverage and questions for HR on one printable page, with an optional AI-written summary of your own figures.
Your promotion
FreeAssumptions behind these numbers
- Published 2026/27 PSPRB pay tables for England and Wales, including the 20% unsocial hours allowance. Scotland and Northern Ireland differ.
- Civil Service alpha pension contribution bands for 2026/27 on pensionable pay, taken before tax; income tax and National Insurance for rUK 2026/27, standard personal allowance.
- Not modelled: student loan, tax code changes, benefits, Scottish tax.
- Starting pay point in the new role is your choice here; your employer sets the real one.
- Payment Plus is non-pensionable and not guaranteed.
Unlock Promotion Prep Pack
- Pay-impact planner with timing and pay-award scenarios
- Evidence bank mapped to Success Profile behaviours
- Assessment practice with optional AI feedback (practice only)
- 12-week preparation plan and printable briefing
Not financial, tax, pension or employment advice. Pay data: PSPRB Twenty-Fifth Report (England and Wales, 2026/27), data as at 3 October 2026. Independent site, not affiliated with HMPPS, the MoJ or the POA.
Who the Promotion Prep Pack is for
It is for serving officers weighing up a move to Band 4 Supervising Officer or Band 5 Custodial Manager who want two things: an honest view of what the move is worth, and a structured way to prepare an application that stands on real examples from their own work.
The free promotion pay calculator already tells you the gross and take-home difference between bands. This pack adds the parts that take time: planning when to apply, building evidence, practising and keeping yourself on a schedule.
How the pay-impact planner helps you decide
The first number most people look for is the monthly take-home difference. On the default example, a National Band 3 officer on the top pay point promoted to the Band 4 spot rate gains about £256 a month after tax, National Insurance and alpha pension. The planner goes further. It projects five years of take-home pay under two paths: staying in your current band and moving up its pay points, or promoting after a number of months you choose. It lets you set a yearly pay-award assumption (0% means today's published rates) and shows the cumulative difference on a chart and in a scenario table.
It also translates the promotion into hours of Payment Plus: the number of extra hours at £23 an hour, after tax, you would need to work each month to earn the same. For many officers that is a revealing comparison, because Payment Plus is not guaranteed and not pensionable, while a promotion is both.
How the evidence bank works
Ministry of Justice vacancy packs for supervisory roles typically list behaviours from the Civil Service Success Profiles, such as Leadership, Communicating and Influencing, Making Effective Decisions and Working Together, and ask for specific examples. The evidence bank gives you a place to write those examples as you remember them, in a structure that forces the details that matter: what was happening, what was your responsibility, what did you do, what changed and what did you learn.
The coverage view shows how many of the nine behaviours have at least one example. Your vacancy pack decides which behaviours you need, so use the list as a prompt, not a rule. Everything is saved in your own browser; export to CSV when you want a copy.
Practice that is honest about what it is
Each behaviour has practice questions written for this tool. You write an answer, tick the self-check list (is the situation specific, are the actions yours, is there a result, is anything security-sensitive) and, if you want, ask for AI feedback on what you wrote. The AI is told to judge only what is on the page and not to predict any real outcome. Every practice screen says so in plain words.
The 12-week plan
The plan starts with reading the vacancy pack twice and ends with 'submit and rest'. In between it spreads the work: audit your evidence, close your biggest gap, write full examples, practise under time, get feedback from a person, check pay and pension with HR and polish. It is a sensible order, not an official process.
What the free calculator already gives you
You do not need to pay to see what promotion is worth. The free promotion pay calculator shows gross and take-home pay before and after, with income tax, National Insurance and your alpha pension contribution, plus a ladder of take-home pay at every Band 3, 4 and 5 pay point. It also gives you one free AI answer. Buy the pack only if you want to plan timing, build evidence and practise.
Who should not buy it
- Anyone who only wants to know the pay difference. The free calculator does that.
- Anyone looking for the real assessment questions or a scoring guide. We do not have them, and nobody honest does.
- Anyone who wants a guarantee. We do not give one.
Price, refund and access
£19.99, one payment, no subscription. There is a 14-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked: email hello@prisonofficerpay.co.uk within 14 days and we refund in full. You can buy without an account; creating one afterwards is optional and only helps you keep access across devices. Read the refund policy.
The pack is also included in the Serving Officer Bundle, which unlocks it with the Pay Planner Pro, Pension Command and the Pension and Lump-Sum Report.
Promotion Prep Pack: frequently asked questions
What do I get for £19.99?
A pay-impact planner with timing and pay-award scenarios, an evidence bank mapped to Success Profile behaviours, practice questions with optional AI feedback, a 12-week plan and a printable briefing. One payment, no subscription.
Will this help me pass the promotion process?
It helps you prepare: understand the pay, gather real examples and practise writing them. We cannot say how any promotion board scores applications and we do not guarantee any result.
Is there a refund if it is not for me?
Yes. A 14-day money-back guarantee on every paid tool. Email hello@prisonofficerpay.co.uk within 14 days of buying. Details in the refund policy.
Do I need to create an account?
No. You can buy as a guest and your access works on that device. An account is optional and lets you keep access across devices.
Where is my evidence stored?
In your own browser on your device. It is not uploaded unless you choose to ask for AI feedback on a specific example, in which case that text is sent to our AI service to produce the reply. Do not include names or security-sensitive information.
Which promotions does it cover?
Pay for moves from Band 3 to Band 4 or Band 5 and from Band 4 to Band 5 on the 2026/27 England and Wales rates. The evidence, practice and plan sections are generic Success Profile preparation.
Is this affiliated with HMPPS or the POA?
No. Prison Officer Pay is an independent publication.
Sources
Read the guides first
The free, sourced guides behind this tool. Nothing here is paywalled.
Try the free version first
The free tool stays free. Upgrade only if you want the extra depth.