Strengths
Aspects for improvement
How well do learners learn and achieve?
Learner achievement and outcomes
For those prisoners who have been sentenced, access to education programmes and participation in work parties and vocational training programmes may result in certification and the development of appropriate skills. Levels of achievement of the prison population as a whole are limited because people on remand generally have no access to education or training. However, in more than a few cases, restricted facilities, and insufficient staffing and overcrowding also constrain opportunities for learning.
A well-structured approach to vocational training generally enables learners who have access to it to develop relevant skills and gain appropriate certification, including nationally accredited qualifications. For example, most prisons deliver the British Institute of Cleaning Sciences (BICSc) award to groups of prisoners. In others, prisoners participate in horticulture programmes. In almost all cases, the acquisition of these skills and qualifications is geared to improving the employment opportunities for prisoners when they have completed their sentences. In more than a few cases, prisoners successfully enter employment following their release.
Groups of prisoners in particular establishments improve their literacy, numeracy, life and social skills, particularly through innovative projects. Larger numbers gain enjoyment and develop skills through physical education. A few gain certification such as the Community Sports Leader Award and the Skills for Work qualification in sport and recreation.
Curriculum
Much learning is relevant and linked to prisoners’ experiences and interests. Overall, the quality of LSE provision varies between establishments. In most cases, there is an appropriate range of courses and programmes to meet learner needs. This is particularly evident in the delivery of vocational training programmes which are relevant to the work of the prison and help prepare the prisoner for employment opportunities upon release.
Vocational Skills Training (VT), delivered by Instructional Officers, covers most of the main employment areas including the various aspects of construction, engineering, horticulture, cleaning, forestry and catering. Prison officers deliver physical education, which is popular with prisoners.
Education classes are provided as part of a contract agreed between the Scottish Prison Service (SPS) and Carnegie and Motherwell colleges for all prisons, with the exception of HMP Kilmarnock. Staff employed by the colleges deliver a range of programmes in areas including adult literacy and core skills; computing and information technology; art and design; languages; leisure subjects; mathematics; and music. A group of prison officers recently developed an introductory award in adult literacy designed to support literacy learning in association with physical education. However, overall there is insufficient availability of adult literacy and numeracy and core skills learning to meet learners’ needs and prepare them well for their release.
The transfer of prisoners between establishments affects the continuity of learning for them. In many instances, prisoners are transferred to another establishment before programmes can be completed. On arrival at an accepting establishment, prisoners often find that the range of provision does not include programmes at the level at which they had been working prior to moving. Although all information is kept on the central prisons database, prisoners’ learning records, in more than a few cases, are not transferred.
Prisoners have little access to extension activities to build upon their standard programmes or on the qualifications they gain during their sentences.
Do prison establishments have a clear and appropriate sense of direction for learning, skills and employability?
The SPS has a strategic policy on and provides a range of vocational learning experiences through the use of work parties and relevant vocational training programmes. These programmes are linked to preparing prisoners for employment opportunities and ensuring they gain relevant qualifications and skills. However, there are insufficient links between SPS and college staff to deliver complementary elements in programmes which would enable prisoners to develop both work-related skills and their literacy and numeracy skills.
The SPS and prison governors perceive the role of vocational training and work parties as important to the life of the prison. They mostly delegate the organisation and delivery of vocational training programmes to middle managers within the prison, for example to inclusion managers. In most cases, these managers provide a meaningful experience for prisoners. In all establishments, prisoner participation in education or vocational work parties is voluntary and prisoners are paid to participate in these activities. In some prisons, prisoners are offered bonuses for passing units, but this practice is not widespread. The decision therefore for prisoners to give up work-party duties and vocational-training opportunities, and take full-time education, depends in many instances on the differential in wages between involvement in work parties and the education unit.
How well do staff work with others (external and internal) to support learning?
In a few cases, staff from different prisons work together to ensure that learners’ needs are met. However, in most cases, education staff in prisons do not engage in joint work with staff from other prisons.
In some cases, there are effective partnerships and working relationships both internally and with external agencies at a local level. In a small number of examples, prisons have developed productive links into broader community networks such as local authority literacy partnerships. There are good examples of involvement of local employers who provide work placement opportunities that help prisoners to gain essential skills and improve the likelihood of post-release employment.
There are some very good examples where individual staff have taken the initiative to work collaboratively with agencies, both in and out of prison, and create meaningful experiences for prisoners and develop their skills. The impact of these activities on prisoners has been significant, with many stating they have increased their self-esteem and gained greater ownership of their learning. Importantly, their experiences help them to look for related employment or voluntary opportunities upon release.
In the open estate, prisoners participate in a wide range of placement opportunities with employers and partners from the local community. In other cases, prisoners work on projects to support community groups, such as helping to clean litter from local beaches, participating in marathons for local charities or contributing to projects working with groups of disabled people.
Do staff actively encourage learning for prisoners?
In all institutions, there is a clear focus on motivating prisoners to get involved and complete their programmes, enabling them to become actively involved as stakeholders in LSE activities. In most cases, good use of appropriate praise and encouragement, combined with recognition and celebration of achievement, helps to increase prisoners’ motivation to complete their studies successfully. This ambition is assisted by the encouragement of positive relations between prisoners and staff. In almost all cases, staff display a high degree of enthusiasm in the learning activities.
Opportunities for LSE activities are promoted effectively in some establishments and staff hold information sessions for new learners on a regular basis. In almost all cases, the effective use of questionnaires helps identify prisoners who require focused support to develop particular skills. In all establishments, more than a few prisoners decline to take advantage of educational opportunities despite an identified need. Access to education programmes and vocational training and work parties is also restricted for prisoners who are segregated from the mainstream prison population.
Do prison establishments have high expectations of prisoners as learners?
In almost all cases, insufficient systematic internal review procedures, which do not involve learners, contribute to weak action planning with few measurable and time-bound targets. In more than a few establishments, there is no recording of achievement on the individual learning plans of prisoners. Insufficient systematic monitoring of attainment and achievement makes it difficult for prisoners and staff to reflect on the progress made and to plan future learning activities. In addition, in more than a few cases, establishments and LSE providers do not communicate effectively enough or work together sufficiently in constructive partnership. This reinforces the perception that LSE provision is, in some cases, accorded a low priority.