Paddy was released on life licence in 2015, after serving 15 years in prison. Having struggled to read and write at the time he began his sentence, he was later funded by PET to begin an Open University degree.
Michelle was 22, with a six-year-old daughter, when she received a life prison sentence. She was funded by PET to begin a degree which she went on to use to help vulnerable women in her local area.
Writer and education specialist Dr Lewis Owens took on an epic ten-day run to raise much-needed funds for Prisoners’ Education Trust.
PET funded ‘Moose’, 46, for a counselling course in 2015 and a NCTJ certificate in journalism in 2016, which he passed this year. He wrote to us care of the education department of his Category C prison.
In early 2017, Simon Scott was appointed a trustee at PET, our first trustee with lived experience of prison education. He shares the challenge of representing all PET learners, and how he is working to create a community of learners to inform PET’s work.
In prison Javed found a sense of purpose and his calling to start an embroidery business. He talks about how he went from a prison printing workshop to embroidering shirts for one of the world’s major football clubs.
Emmanuel was 38 and serving a life sentence when he learned to read so he could write to his daughter – and later study alongside her. He shares his story.
To mark the second International Day of Education in Prisons, we asked people in prison to submit poems, short stories and essays addressing the question: “Why does Education in Prison Matter?” We received dozens of submissions in each category, and a panel of PET staff and volunteers whittled them down to the strongest.
So far this year, PET has funded over 200 people to take GCSE, AS Levels and A Levels in prison, a handful of whom managed to take their exams inside. As they await, lament or celebrate their results along with students up and down the country, we asked them why they chose to study these subjects, what effect it has had, and what they hope to do next.
Zack, a prisoner in Wales, is currently being released on temporary licence to complete a graphic design degree. As part of this, he created an animation which serves as a guide for families of serving prisoners.
© Prisoners' Education Trust 2021