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<p>To become a prison officer you must attend an Area Recruitment Centre (ARC) and
pass all elements consisting of literacy and numeracy tests, situational judgment
tests and physical and medical tests. These determine a candidate’s suitability for
the role and do not take into account a candidate’s age or gender, which prevents
any unlawful discrimination. There are four elements of the fitness test including
grip, agility, bleep test and holding a shield. All of these elements need to be passed
for the candidate to pass the fitness part of the assessment.</p><p> </p><p>All prison
officers who joined the service after April 2001 must pass an annual fitness test
in order to remain a prison officer. Staff who do not meet the annual fitness test
standard will be provided with advice and support by a fitness assessor on achieving
and maintaining the required fitness level.</p><p> </p><p>There are many factors which
determine a person’s ability to pass a fitness test which could not be determined
by their age alone.</p>
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