Irish Prison Officer Recruit cheat sheet

Percentage change = ((new value − old value) ÷ old value) × 100. A fall from 80 to 60 is a 25% decrease, because 20 ÷ 80 = 0.25.

Apply a percentage increase by multiplying by (1 + p/100) and a decrease by (1 − p/100); a 20% rise followed by a 20% fall gives 1.2 × 0.8 = 0.96, a net 4% decrease.

Reverse percentage: if a price is €64 after a 20% discount, the original is 64 ÷ 0.8 = €80. Adding 20% to the discounted price gives the wrong answer.

Share an amount in ratio a:b by dividing by (a + b) and multiplying each part; €4,200 in 3:4 gives €1,800 and €2,400.

Mean = total ÷ count, so total = mean × count. Five items averaging 12 total 60; adding an item of 18 makes six items average 13.

Speed = distance ÷ time. 150 km in 2 h 30 min is 60 km/h, because 2 h 30 min must be used as 2.5 hours.

Convert minutes to decimal hours before multiplying or dividing by a rate: 15 min = 0.25 h, 30 min = 0.5 h, 45 min = 0.75 h.

x% of N = (x ÷ 100) × N; 15% of 240 = 36, reached quickly as 10% (24) plus 5% (12).

On a 24-hour clock, add 24 hours when the end time is earlier than the start: a shift from 22:45 to 06:30 lasts 7 hours 45 minutes.

Answer 'true' only when the statement follows from the passage alone; if any element is unsupported, the correct answer is 'cannot say'.

'Cannot say' is decided by the information in the passage, not by real-world plausibility or by what is usually true.

'All A are B' implies 'some A are B'; 'some A are B' never supports 'all A are B'. 'Most' means more than half but not all.

'Some A are B' combined with 'no B are C' supports 'some A are not C', but it does not support 'some A are C'.

Watch for scope shifts: a passage about recruits in one year cannot support a statement about all staff or all years.

Absolute wording in an option (always, never, only, must) requires explicit textual support; without it, the option is usually not the answer.

For 'EXCEPT' questions, three options must be provable from the passage; the answer is the single option that is not.

For word-in-context items, substitute each candidate meaning back into the sentence and keep only the one that preserves the sentence's logic.

Rank responses by priority: immediate safety of people first, then security and order, then dignity and rights, then procedure and recording.

Use the least restrictive effective response first: verbal de-escalation before physical intervention, and only the minimum force necessary for no longer than required.

Any disclosure of suicidal intent or self-harm must be reported immediately to a supervisor or healthcare staff and recorded; it is never kept in confidence.

Contraband found on a prisoner is not returned: secure it, note exactly where and when it was found, and inform the supervisor without delay.

Share prisoner information only with staff who need it for their duties; never discuss it with other prisoners or outside work.

Obey lawful and safe instructions; if an instruction is unlawful or unsafe, raise it with your line manager or a senior officer rather than acting on it.

Report a colleague's misconduct through the management line; do not confront publicly, cover for the colleague, or discuss it with other staff.

Record incidents as soon as practicable, stating facts, times and names, with no opinion, blame or speculation about motive.

In 'most effective' items, choose the option that solves the problem, stays within your role's authority and follows procedure; 'least effective' options ignore risk or exceed authority.

Structure answers with STAR: brief Situation, Task stated as your responsibility, Action describing what you personally did, and a Result that closes the answer.

Roughly four-fifths of the answer should be Action, broken into three or four specific steps rather than a general description of the team's work.

Use first person: 'I decided', 'I checked', 'I reported'. Panels can only score behaviour they can attribute to you personally.

Replace adjectives with evidence: 'reduced queue waiting time from 20 to 8 minutes' rather than 'I am efficient and organised'.

End every answer with a measurable or observable result: a number, a percentage, time saved, people affected, or feedback received.

Use a different example for each competency question so the panel sees range across teamwork, customer care, resilience and rule-following.

Answer the exact command verb: outline means brief summary, explain means give reasons, describe means give detail. Ignoring the verb loses marks.

Written word limits are part of the assessment; an answer over the limit or off the topic scores fewer marks than a shorter focused answer.