Recruitment process
The recruitment process consists of an online application, assessment and interview. The assessment is expected to take place on Friday 24th July 2026 and the interviews are expected to take place on the week commencing 10th August 2026 at 102 Petty France, London SW1H 9EA.
A member of our recruitment team will be in touch with guidance. If you have any queries about this, contact [email protected].
You should keep these dates free or notify us if you are not available. We will make every effort to accommodate your date preferences but we cannot guarantee it.
Assessment
We ask you to complete an assessment as part of the recruitment process for this role. We will provide details on the day of your assessment.
Personal statement
We ask you to complete a personal statement of no more than 1,250 words. You need to address the core behaviours for this role, which are:
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making effective decisions
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delivering at pace
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working together
You also need to demonstrate how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience match the following criteria required for this role:
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recent and substantive experience of the Criminal Justice System, prosecuting or defending, including dealing with complex disclosure issues.
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ability to conduct court advocacy in the magistrates court and ideally preliminary hearings in the Crown Court.
In addition, you need to demonstrate the Crown Prosecution Service or Civil Service values.
The panel has the right to assess the lead behaviour making effective decisions first. If the standard on this behaviour is not met, the other behaviours wont be considered and your application wont progress. The panel also has the right to raise the minimum standard pass mark. The panel may also refer to the lead behaviour at the interview stage to determine merit order.
Interview/Assessment
We use behaviours to help us understand your experience, to see if you're a good fit for the role. You are assessed against SP/Grade 7 in the Civil Service success profiles behaviours framework. We are assessing 3 behaviours at interview / assessment stage
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making effective decisions (Assessment & Interview)
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communicating and influencing (Assessment & Interview)
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seeing the Big Picture (Assessment & Interview)
Essential Experience/Technical Skills listed above are also tested at interview and assessment stage.
Information session
We will hold information sessions where you can ask us any queries about your application, the process, or the role. This will take place on Microsoft Teams at 1:00pm on 1 July 2026. You must register for the session before 2pm on 30th June 2026 by emailing [email protected].
CV
You should upload a CV to provide information about your employment history and experience. This will be used, along with any further evidence in your personal statement, to assess your criminal law experience.
You need to attach your CV as an anonymised document of no more than two A4 pages, to provide the panel with an insight into your work history and experience. We ask that you do not provide personal details which could identify you like name, age, home address.
It is your responsibility to provide the specified application information in the requested format to ensure that you are considered for the post.
If you are unable to cover three years through employment and/or academic history, you need to provide a character reference for clearance purposes. The reference will be required at onboarding if you are offered the role.
Strengths
Strengths are tested at interview stage - the strengths tested are not shared before the interview.
Other
This is a full-time post. We do consider requests for flexible, part-time working and job share, always considering the operational needs of the department.
Please note that the CPS is unable to offer visa sponsorship. Therefore, if you require visa sponsorship to work in the UK, you will not meet the eligibility criteria for this role.
Clearance
If successful, you are required to secure Developed Vetting clearance, for which you must have a current valid UK address.
If successfully appointed, we ask you to complete a character enquiry form, nationality and immigration questionnaire and national security vetting form.
If you are a Crown Prosecution Service member of staff, you will not need to do a Disclosure and Barring Service check as you already hold this clearance.
The job you are applying for is covered by Article 3(a) of the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975, consequently Section 4(2) of that Act doesnt apply. You are required to disclose all previous convictions and cautions including spent convictions. Failing to make a full declaration will result in withdrawing your offer of employment if our checks reveal convictions that havent been disclosed.
To be cleared to Developed Vetting clearance level, you have to be able to meet the residency requirement in the Cabinet Office guidance. For the Crown Prosecution Service, this is six years within the last ten years.
Reserve list
If you are recommended by the selection panel but not appointed to the current vacancy, you are put on a reserve list for 12 months. You may be offered another Specialist Prosecutor post in the CPS if a vacancy comes up during this period. We may also approach candidates on the waiting list to fill other roles that require similar knowledge and experience.
Feedback
We only provide feedback if you attend an interview or assessment.
Fraud check
The Crown Prosecution Service provides a Fair Processing Notice to all new applicants after they have been successful at interview. These candidates are informed that, as one aspect of pre-employment screening, their personal details name, National Insurance number and date of birth are checked against the Internal Fraud Database. We will not employ anyone included on the database unless they can demonstrate exceptional circumstances.
The Strategic Resourcing team in the Crown Prosecution Service will, on behalf of the vacancy holder, inform applicants when they are refused employment because of their inclusion in the Internal Fraud Database.
Civil Service Commission
If you are dissatisfied with the recruitment process and wish to make a complaint, please contact [email protected] with your concerns.
If you remain dissatisfied and wish to make a further complaint, please click on the following link to the Civil Service Commission complaints page https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/recruitment/civilservicerecruitmentcomplaints/
Civil Service Commission Recruitment Principles can be found at https://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/recruitment/
Details of the Civil Service Nationality Rules are located at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nationality-rules
Candidates are subject to UK immigration requirements. For the most up-to-date information on the requirements of working in the UK, please go to the UK Visas and Immigration website at https://www.gov.uk/browse/visas-immigration/work-visas
Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.
