The same old story on prison education

Outcomes for this yr

So to start with, what can we are saying with confidence? Individuals who arrive in jail full an preliminary evaluation earlier than they take part in training. These exams, whereas imperfect, are the most effective measure now we have of the literacy and numeracy ranges of individuals getting into the jail system. The outcomes for 2023-24 are, as at all times, very regarding. Most individuals have been at Entry Stage 1 to Entry Stage 3 (73% of Maths assessments and 71% of English assessments). Entry Stage 3 is roughly the literacy and numeracy degree you’ll anticipate of anyone leaving main college.

Inside this, 17% – almost 8,000 folks – have been at or beneath Entry Stage 1 for literacy, roughly equal to the degrees we might anticipate of somebody aged 5-7. The Nationwide Literacy Belief notes that adults beneath Entry Stage 1 “might not be capable to write quick messages to household or learn a street signal”. Or, in apply, interact with many components of a jail regime.

Relating to entry to training, 49,965 folks participated in a course in jail throughout 2023-24 and 45,289 made measurable progress. Inside this, 21,781 folks participated in a minimum of one useful expertise course, which cowl literacy, numeracy, ICT and English for audio system of different languages. The bulk made measurable progress, with 17,176 reaching a full or partial grade.

In comparison with what?

These numbers are onerous to interpret in isolation. Is that this good or dangerous? Higher or worse than we’d anticipate? Helpfully, the Ministry of Justice has recalculated final yr’s figures utilizing the brand new methodology to offer us a degree of comparability.

They present that utilizing the identical revised methodology, the outcomes of the preliminary assessments are much like final yr’s. In 2022-23, 72% of Maths assessments and 68% of English assessments have been at Entry Stage 1 to Entry Stage 3, in comparison with 73% and 71% respectively this yr.

What will not be clear is why they’re fairly a bit completely different from the outcomes for 2022-23 utilizing the earlier methodology, when the equal figures have been 68% for Maths and 65% for English. This distinction of 5 and 6 proportion factors will not be insignificant, however it’s troublesome to know what’s driving it.

The first change in methodology appears to be the removing of personal prisons, prisons in Wales and institutions from the youth property. You’ll be able to solely assume, subsequently, that individuals in these institutions had larger ranges of literacy and numeracy, pushing the averages up.

Equally, revised figures for participation in 2022-23 give us one thing to match this yr’s figures to. For all programs and for useful expertise programs the numbers taking part have elevated marginally, by 7% and 5% respectively. With the jail system in its present state, any improve is welcome. Regardless of the methodology, nonetheless, it appears unlikely that the variety of folks taking part in academic programs has matched the degrees of a decade or so in the past, when greater than 100,000 folks participated in a course.