These documents provide detailed guidance about how we inspect the Probation Service. Following a consultation in 2022, we have revised our inspection standards and methodology.

Information regarding our consultations can be found on the Standards and Ratings page.


Rules and guidance

The rules and guidance assists inspectors to make their judgements against our regional and Probation Delivery Unit (PDU) standards.

Domain one rules and guidance (PDF, 786 kB) – January 2024

Domain two case assessment rules and guidance (PDF, 550 kB) – August 2024

Management oversight (PDF, 207 kB)


Guidance manual

To assist the Probation Service, we have produced a guidance manual.  It provides an overview and details all the stages of regional and PDU inspections, including what happens before, during and after an inspection. It also details how we report our findings.

Probation Inspection Manual v8.2 (PDF, 568 kB) – September 2024


Report glossary

Probation inspection glossary of terms (PDF, 214 kB)