By Prisoners’ Education Trust 

This briefing makes 10 recommendations to the new ministerial team at the Ministry of Justice on how to improve prison education, ensuring that people in prison can access education provision that meets their needs and helps them to thrive on release. The briefing focuses on education provision in adult prisons and on changes that can be made at a national level. As education is a devolved issue, it primarily covers issues related to provision in England and not in Wales.

Among the recommendations for the new ministerial team are:

• Making it clear to everyone in the prison system that education is a priority for the new government

• Increasing funding for prison education to meet the needs of learners

• Reviewing the upcoming prison education contracts to consider whether they are fit for purpose

The briefing also addresses access to digital technology and the internet, support for teachers, and meeting the diverse needs of people in prison – as well as taking a longer-term view of the prison education delivery model. The need for urgent action on prison education is clear. The majority of people who arrive in prison have literacy and numeracy levels below those expected of somebody leaving primary school. Despite this, nearly half of Ofsted inspections of prisons find education provision to be inadequate. Ofsted’s most recent annual report noted that “the overall effectiveness of education, skills and work provision in prisons is poor and continues to decline”, while HM Chief Inspector of Prisons Charlie Taylor has described prison education as “nowhere near good enough”. At present, not only is prison education not of good enough quality, but not enough people can access it. The number of people who participated in a course in prison last year was 37% lower than a decade ago, while the number participating in a functional skills course — the fundamental English, Maths and ICT skills that people need for their working and personal lives — has fallen by 27% since 2014–15.

London: Prisoners, Education Trust, 2024.   40p.