• Case Studies
How does learning in prison change lives? Prisoners and ex prisoners speak for themselves.
- Alex. Ex Prisoner. I had a roofing company but I was involved in crime. That was my environment, my identity.
- Andy. Ex Prisoner. Prison was really tough and scary. Not only was I in prison, but I was having mental health problems.
- Chris. Writing from prison. Doing courses in jail gives me something to work towards. A sense of achieving something. A goal to aim towards.
- Dennis. Writing from prison. Sometimes I struggle to fully understand things. However, I persevere as I know with perseverance I can and will succeed.
- Gordon. Writing from prison. The powers that be state I have learning difficulties. However, with two diplomas, 56 OCN's and A level History, I’m proving a person can learn if you study hard and enjoy it.
- Graham. Ex-prisoner. It did not take long for me to realise that I would need a plan to mentally survive.
- Jim. Writing from prison. Maybe, if I stick to it, I may actually achieve in something legitimate, for once in my life.
- Joy. Volunteering with the Anne Frank Prison Project. After the exhibition I carried on as usual, but I knew something in me had changed!
- Keiron. On receiving the 20,000th grant from the Prisoners Education Trust. By next summer I will have my diploma and I will also have been clean from drugs for 18 months.
- Keith. Writing from prison. On the ‘Holy Trinity’ of the Prisoners Education Trust, Prison Education co-ordinators and the Open University.
- Leroy. Writing from prison. I’ve decided to get myself some qualifications and some kind of training, so I can look after myself and my partner and have a stable future, being positive, without coming in and out of prison.
- Lorna. Ex Prisoner. My studying has had such a positive influence on the kids. My boy said seeing me turn a negative into a positive has really pushed him to follow his own academic goals.
- Mack. Writing from prison. I think it is a credit to the OU that just about every prison has access to their courses and everyone is welcome to study.
- Martin. Writing from prison. I have heard prison staff say “they are clever enough already so why teach them anymore?”
- Paul. Diary of a Polish prisoner in an English prison. If only one person will change a opinion after reading ours diaries it will be a great succes.
- Peter. An ex-prisoner says thank you to his prison teacher. I really enjoy my job and at long last have direction and meaning in my life.
- Robert. Learning Mentor. Writing from prison. When I mentor a prisoner, they are always respectful towards me because I know were they are coming from and I know how to get the work across to them.
- Sadiq. Writing from prison. Who would have thought that I, of all people would see the positives of education and how it can change your life in so many different ways?
- Simon. Writing from prison. I will never forget that without this opportunity I would have been looking at ending up overdosing in a backstreet due to the fact that I would not have had a future worth considering.
- Suzanne. Writing from prison. In prison you have two routes to take; route A: Education or route B: Cleaning.
- Tim. Ex-prisoner. The obstacles that I have been confronted with whilst on release have been appalling.
- Tom. Ex Prisoner. I’ll sit my boy down and tell him that prison is not a good place. I’ve been there.
Just a quick letter to let you know that I am out of prison, doing okay, working and still studying.
Ex prisoner. 2009
As It Was. By William Sweeney. HM Prison & Young Offender Institution Glenochil. Courtesy of The Koestler Trust.
The relatively small sums of money given by the Trust make an enormous difference to the life chances of prisoners. Prison Education Manager
Superman. By Anon. HM Prison Wellingborough. Courtesy of the Koestler Trust.