Government research: impact of prison education goes beyond finding work
New government research shows the positive impact of education for people supported by Prisoners’ Education Trust goes beyond finding work.
New government research shows the positive impact of education for people supported by Prisoners’ Education Trust goes beyond finding work.
This library of resources put together by the Prisoner Learning Academic Network includes research on prison education and learning. Where possible, we have included links to resources which have been made available to everyone.
Model: Various, including academic reading groups
University postgraduate students meet monthly with prison-based students in peer-run sessions at HMPs Shotts, Greenock and Barlinnie to discuss academic texts in social sciences, humanities and physical sciences. The aim is to reproduce the kinds of reading groups typically available in universities as part of a liberal arts educational philosophy and which support: group based learning, discussion and debate skills, critical analytical skills, close reading, high level textual engagement and knowledge acquisition.
Prisons Minister Rory Stewart has welcomed new research published by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) today showing people in prison who have accessed distance learning through Prisoners’ Education Trust (PET) are more likely to find work after release.
This qualification will introduce learners to the skills required to plan, organise, and evaluate events – including weddings, live music, charity runs and corporate events such as conferences. This course covers marketing methods, market research, human resources, communication, health and safety, and customer service. Event planning is an important part of many jobs, including charity fundraising, but it can also be a specialist profession in itself, for example as a wedding planner, club promoter or conference organiser.
Unit 1: Planning an event.
Unit 2: Reviewing and evaluating an event.
Unit 3: Marketing and market research for event planning.
Unit 4: Planning human resources for events.
Unit 5: Communication and customer service for events.
PET entry requirements: Level 2 English
Format of course material: Paper-based (or file transfer on request)
Assignments: 5 written assignments
Exam: No
Prison support requirements: Support submission of assignments
Tutor support: Yes
In a new Clinks Evidence Library review, PET CEO Jon Collins takes a look at the evidence on the impact of prison education.
Prisoners’ Education Trust has been recommended by the Good Giving List, the UK’s first thoroughly-vetted list of effective UK charities.
People from South Yorkshire are studying courses with PET thanks to support from the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Giving Back scheme.
One of our learners, David, wrote a letter to PET to explain how studying a course in prison has made all the difference.
A grant from the Police and Crime Commissioner for South Yorkshire is supporting PET learners from South Yorkshire.
The annual report paints a grim picture of prisons struggling to manage and failing to provide much needed education and activities.
Find out why Jon started working for PET, what we’re doing to ensure we reach everyone in prison, and what he hopes we can achieve by 2026.
PET’s Head of Fundraising and Communications takes a look back at everything we have achieved in 2021 thanks to the help of our supporters.
After eight years as CEO, Rod Clark reflects on leaving Prisoners’ Education Trust and the positive future he foresees for the organisation.
Learning Together began in 2014 as an action research initiative. Through our research, we aimed to develop a valid questionnaire that could be reliably used to evaluate the experiences and growth of students – based both in prisons and at universities – as they participate in Learning Together.
Education provided a turning point for Jonathan. Beginning with GCSEs funded by PET, he went on to complete a Masters degree and begin a PhD in prison, working as a graduate tutor whilst on day release.
A new connected short course delivered at HMP Hull is supported by chromebooks through Learning Together’s partnership with Coracle Inside.
In this course, you’ll deepen your understanding of theories underpinning human behaviour – exploring memory, cognition and mental health. You’ll also develop your analytical and organisational skills, discovering which scientific research methods can be used to collect, process and analyse data.
The course contains four lessons that follow on from Part 1:
Entry Requirements: Level 2 English and Maths, plus Psychology A-Level Part 1
Format of Course Materials: Paper-based
Assignments: Four written assignments. These do not contribute towards the final grade.
Exams: Three – all are 2 hours long and count 33.3% towards the final grade. (Funding not included – you will need to re-apply to PET for the exam fees)
Prison Support Requirements: Support completion and submission of assignments. Organize and invigilate exams.
Tutor Support: Yes
What’s Next? Open University Access Module Y032 People, Work and Society
Find Out More: From NEC here
Rod Clark is stepping down as Chief Executive of Prisoners’ Education Trust after seven and a half years in the role.
Watch the Shadow Justice Secretary join our expert panel for an online discussion on education, race and criminal justice.
Three prison university partnerships come together to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on their role in prisons, and what the future may hold for their work.
Charles Cockell, from Edinburgh University, discusses the successful Life Beyond project established through a partnership between Fife College and the Scottish Prison Service. Life Beyond challenges prisoners to think about science in a creative way.
A new report from Pro Bono Economics provides further evidence that PET’s work has a positive economic impact for society.
PET Volunteer and Doctoral Researcher Xander Ryan explains how he created short courses to improve learners’ study skills and help them progress.
Creative Arts students at HMP Pentonville have created a commemorative book marking the prison’s 20-year partnership with PET.
In this blog post, we hear about how the University of Southern Queensland in Australia brought has made its courses available to students in prison through in-cell digital technology.
In this blog post we hear from Sacha Darke, a senior lecturer at University of Westminster, who recently travelled to South America to visit existing and developing higher education prison initiatives.
At any one time, up to 1000 children can be in prisons or secure training centres. Francesca Cooney, our Head of Policy, reviews the recent report from HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) on children in custody and outlines what it tells us about access to education.
As part of the ‘Prisoners’ Active Citizenship’ (PAC) project, nine active citizenship learning areas were set up in five European countries. This research report presents the results of the evaluation of these learning areas.
The John Howard Centre is a medium-secure forensic hospital for adults. In this post, Miles Mantle talks about the meaning patients find in education and its rehabilitative effects.
On 6th November, we held our second PLAN seminar in the current series, bringing practitioners and researchers together, from a range of disciplines, to build and strengthen the knowledge base around prison education
As part of the PAC (Prisoners’ Active Citizenship) Erasmus + EU project, this research report provides insight into existing active citizenship practices in European prisons through an overview of the existing literature about active citizenship in prison, and the results of an online survey.
Prisoners’ Education Trust has appointed five new trustees, including a charity campaigner, a former Ministry of Justice senior official, and the 2019 FE Leader of the Year.
Rowan Mackenzie is a PhD Researcher at University of Birmingham and since early 2018 has been helping to bring Shakespeare behind bars at a number of prisons. Today we hear from Rowan and from the Gallowfield Players, a theatre company at HMP Gartree
Model: Various
Researcher Rowan MacKenzie from the Shakespeare Institute started volunteering in HMP Gartree in early 2018, facilitating drama workshops and working towards a performance of Macbeth. From this, the Gallow Field Players was formed – a theatre company who work with Rowan to put on performances of Shakespeare plays for their families, and prison and university staff – to rave reviews! You can read more about the partnership here.
Space, coding and the science of sleep were all part of the equation at the PUPiL network’s latest event, as we heard from experimental projects that push the boundaries of what is usually possible in prisons.
The University of Leicester’s Dr Marie Nugent has worked with researchers and HMP Leicester to run an English pilot of Cell Block Science – a ground-breaking public engagement programme that brings STEM (science, technology, engineering and maths) academics into prisons.
Model: CoPI (Community of Philosophical Enquiry)
Low Moss and Cornton Vale prisons offered seven-week Introduction to Philosophy courses to prisoners, adapting a successful MOOC (Massively Online Open Course) offered by University of Edinburgh academics. The courses were designed by Philosophy researchers at Edinburgh, and is delivered through small-group tutorials by postgraduate students. Tutorials took the format of guided discussions using the Community of Philosophical Inquiry (CoPI) format, a pedagogical method which does not presuppose any particular knowledge or literacy level from students and which work to strip away prisoners’ previous assumptions about themselves and the world.
Model: Various, including public legal education provided to prisoners via a partnership with St Giles Trust and with prison radio.
The Open University has been supporting students in prisons since the 1970s with courses ranging from short access modules to full undergraduate and postgraduate degree programmes.
Since 2017, the Open University Law School through its Open Justice Centre, has run public legal education projects in eleven prisons across England and Wales: HMP Altcourse, HMP Cardiff, HMP Dovegate, HMP Oakwood, HMP Sudbury, HMP Leicester, HMP Foston Hall, HMP Send, HMP High Down, HMP Wandsworth and HMP Wormwood Scrubs.
All of our prison projects involve law students towards the end of their degree studies and most of the projects have been in partnership with St Giles Trust. This charity selects and trains prisoners to act as peer advisors to their fellow prisoners. Together, the peer advisors and law students identify areas of legal need in the prison. Under supervision, the students develop suitable learning materials to help address that need and deliver them to the peer advisors. The peer advisors are then able to disseminate this legal knowledge to others in the prison. Subjects have included release on temporary licence, deportation, family law matters and legal issues concerning employment after prison. In HMP Altcourse, the dissemination of legal knowledge researched by our law students takes place over prison radio.
The Open University has also run a series of research seminars in HMP Stafford and HMP Oakwood in which OU academics deliver a short lecture to prisoners, who are then invited to ask questions and discuss the issues raised. Topics have ranged from the rise of Donald Trump to the atmosphere of the moon.
Model: Various, including Learning Together
“The learners realised that philosophy is a human endeavour that is accessible to all participants, particularly as it opened their minds and hearts to their predicament and place in the world.”
A social science research methods course ran in HMPYOI Isis between January and March 2017 with Open Book at Goldsmiths, University of London – involving 18 learners in total, 16 of whom were under 25 years old. The Open Book Project aims to break down the barriers to higher education for people from a wide range of non-traditional backgrounds including, offending, addiction and mental health. The guest lecturers were ex-prisoners who had significant personal experience with the prison context and were currently studying and/or researching prisons.
This course is ideal whether you are looking to launch a small local enterprise or you have aspirations to run a global digital company. It covers marketing, business planning, finance and networking – taking you from the business conception through to making your first sale. It will bring you up to date with current technological possibilities too. The course provider, Rocketeer, will also give you access to their resources after release, and offer bespoke support for your business through the gate.
The course consists of five steps:
Step 1: Research – How to Find Your Money-Making Opportunity
Step 2: Choose – How to Narrow Down the Right Business Idea for You
Step 3: Design – Plan For Success
Step 4: Build – How to Construct Your Business
Step 5: Launch – How to Start Making Money
Entry Requirements: Level 2 English
Format of Course Materials: Paper-based
Assignments: Three written assignments
Exams: None
Prison Support Requirements: Support completion and submission of assignments.
Tutor Support: Yes
What’s Next? Principles of Management Level 3 RQF (NCC Home Learning)
Find Out More: Rocketeer provide more information here
This course is designed to guide you through the process of setting up your own business. You’ll get practical advice and develop skills vital for planning, establishing and growing a business. The course explores if self-employment is right for you and provides the tools you need to develop a full business plan. It also covers topics vital to early success, including legal and financial issues, marketing and sales, and customer service and quality.
The course has nine topics spread across two parts:
Part 1- Planning to start your own business
Part 2 – Succeeding with your own business
Entry Requirements: Level 2 English
Format of Course Materials: Paper-based
Assignments: There are nine written “progress checks”
Exams: None
Prison Support Requirements: Support completion and submission of assignments
Tutor Support: Yes
What’s Next? A skills based course, depending on the nature of your business (e.g Horticulture, Animal Care), A practical course in management, management or finance, or an IGCSE or AS Level Business Studies
Find Out More: From NEC’s website here
With this qualification, you’ll improve your understanding of human behaviour and interaction and explore issues around race, inequality and religion. You will get the opportunity to develop transferable skills like critical analysis, as well as independent thinking and research.
PET offers A-levels in two parts. Upon completing Part 1, you can choose either to take your AS exam (a qualification marking the first year of a full A-level) or continue on to Part 2 to build up to a full A-level.
The course consists of the following units:
Entry Requirements: Level 2 English and Maths
Assignments: Six written assignments. These do not contribute toward the final grade.
Exams: Two, each are 1 hour 30 minutes, and contribute 50% of the overall grade. (Funding not included – you will need to re-apply to PET for the exam fees).
Prison Support Requirements: Support completion and submission of assignments. Organize and facilitate exams.
Tutor Support: Yes
What’s Next? Sociology A-Level Part 2
Find Out More: From NEC here
In this course, you’ll deepen your understanding of theories underpinning human behaviour – exploring memory, cognition and mental health. You’ll also develop your analytical and organisational skills, discovering which scientific research methods can be used to collect, process and analyse data.
PET offers A-levels in two parts. Upon completing Part 1, you can choose either to take your AS exam (a qualification marking the first year of a full A-level) or continue on to Part 2 to build up to a full A-level.
The course consists of the following units:
Research Methods (scientific processes, data analysis and presentation, maths resources)
Entry Requirements: Level 2 English and Maths
Format of Course Materials: Paper-based
Assignments: Seven written assignments. These do not contribute toward the final grade.
Exams: Two, each are 1 hour 30 minutes, and contribute 50% of the overall grade. (Funding not included – you will need to re-apply to PET for the exam fees)
Prison Support Requirements: Support completion and submission of assignments. Organize and facilitate exams.
Tutor Support: Yes
What’s Next? Psychology A-Level Part 2
Find Out More: From NEC here
This course will help you better observe and interpret human behaviour, analyse your own social interactions with people of different personality types, and understand the drivers behind decision-making and behaviour. It covers a wide selection of topics including memory, perception, social influence, the brain and neuropsychology.
The course consists of the following units:
Entry Requirements: Level 2 English
Format of Course Materials: Paper-based
Assignments: Ten written assignments. These do not count towards the final grade.
Exams: Two, each are 1 hour 45 minutes and contribute 50% the overall grade. (Funding not included – you will need to re-apply to PET for the exam fees).
Prison Support Requirements: Support completion and submission of assignments. Organize and facilitate exams.
Tutor Support: Yes
What’s Next? A-Level Psychology, or OU Access Module YO32: People, work and Society
Find Out More: From NEC’s website
Elisabeth Davies, a specialist in public policy, has been named as the new Chair of Prisoners’ Education Trust, taking over the position from Alexandra Marks CBE.
Dr Alison Lamont works in the Department of Social Sciences at the University of Roehampton. She has worked in partnership with HMP Belmarsh on a Learning Together programme, ‘Understanding Justice.’
Jason was 17 when he went to prison. At the end of his sentence he decided to apply to university. In this video interview, he talks about overcoming rejection to gain a place at university, and why all institutions should welcome people with a history of imprisonment.
Rod Clark responds to government research showing PET funding is helping people find work – showing education is both high-impact and good value for money.
Today the Ministry of Justice will be launching a new Education and Employment Strategy. This is Prisoners’ Education Trust’s response.
The Chair of the Prisoner Learning Alliance today wrote to the new Prisons Minister Rory Stewart OBE MP. He called for an explanation of why the contracts to provide careers advice for prisoners have been terminated without any apparent replacement service in place.
We know that prison education can make a difference. But how does that ‘change’ process happen and what role can education play? The Prisoner Learning Alliance (PLA) aims to stimulate debate around these issues. Using research with teachers and former prisoners, the report examines how we can measure the benefit of education in prison, and how we can improve its provision.
Prisoners' Education Trust approached Pro Bono Economics to undertake an impact assessment of their programme that funds educational resources for prisoners. Following on from research by the Ministry of Justice, economists estimated that PET would need to reduce reoffending by just one percentage point for the costs of the programme to outweigh the costs associated with reoffending (for example, costs to society, the victim and the criminal justice system).
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