France opens 2027 prison guard concours for national and Île-de-France posts

The Ministère de la justice has authorised the opening of the external and first internal concours for recruiting prison guards (surveillants de l’administration pénitentiaire) for the first session of 2027, in two separate competitions covering national and local (Île-de-France) assignments. The decision is set out in two arrêtés signed on 10 August 2026 and published in the Journal officiel de la République française n°0193 of 20 August 2026, with online registration opening on Monday 24 August 2026.

Two competitions, two assignments

The first arrêté (JORFTEXT000054717653, NOR JUSK2621417A) authorises an external concours and a first internal concours with national assignment (affectation nationale). The second (JORFTEXT000054717679, NOR JUSK2621427A) opens the same two concours with local assignment in territorial district n°1, Île-de-France (affectation locale).

• External concours, national assignment
• First internal concours, national assignment
• External concours, local assignment (Île-de-France)
• First internal concours, local assignment (Île-de-France)

The total number of posts offered will be fixed by a later arrêté of the garde des sceaux, ministre de la justice, as will the composition of the jury.

Registration and deadlines

Candidates must register online at www.lajusticerecrute.fr (section “recrutement”), choosing at the time of registration either the external or the first internal concours; no change of choice is accepted after the closing date. Registration opens on 24 August 2026 and closes on Friday 16 October 2026 at 23:59 Paris time.

• Online registration: 24 August – 16 October 2026
• Postal registration: same closing date, postmark decisive
• Paper dossiers may be requested from the direction générale de l’administration pénitentiaire, bureau du recrutement, 13 place Vendôme, 75042 Paris Cedex 01

Candidates with disabilities requesting adapted examination conditions must send a medical certificate to concourssvt.dap@justice.gouv.fr by 23 October 2026, under articles R. 352-1 to R. 352-3 of the code général de la fonction publique.

Examination timetable

The first admissibility examination will take place between 30 November and 18 December 2026, and the second on Thursday 7 January 2027. Admissibility results will be published on the ministry’s website from 15 February 2027.

• Admissibility results: from 15 February 2027
• RAEP dossiers due: 26 February 2027
• Admission examinations: 22 March – 16 April 2027
• Admission results: from 24 May 2027

Candidates residing in the overseas collectivities listed in article 72-3 of the Constitution (Guadeloupe, Guyane, Martinique, La Réunion, Mayotte, Saint-Barthélemy, Saint-Martin, Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon, Wallis and Futuna, French Polynesia, New Caledonia) or abroad, as well as those with disabilities, pregnant or in poor health, may request to take the oral admission examination by videoconference, under the arrêté of 8 July 2024.

Why it matters

These two arrêtés open a significant recruitment window for the French Prison Administration, offering both nationwide and Île-de-France placements to external candidates and serving staff alike. With registration opening within days, the notice gives prospective applicants a clear calendar of deadlines, examination dates and result publication, and confirms the ministry’s fully digital application process.

Source: Journal officiel de la République française, n°0193 of 20 August 2026, notices (official references: JORFTEXT000054717653, NOR JUSK2621417A; JORFTEXT000054717679, NOR JUSK2621427A).