Novus selected again to deliver West Midlands prison education The training provider has retained eight prisons in the region following a tender re-run

📋 Eight prisons in the West Midlands have finally been appointed an education supplier after an initial failed procurement process.

feweek.co.uk/novus-selected-again-to-...

BPA Prizes 2026 - British Philosophical Association The British Philosophical Association is delighted to celebrate the inaugural recipients of our new BPA Prizes. These awards were established to recognise and promote the outstanding breadth, depth, a...

Congratulations (belatedly) to Dr Leonie Smith and Dr @jonbebb.bsky.social on winning the @thebpa.bsky.social's inaugural prize for 'Teaching Philosophy in the Community' for their work teaching philosophy in prison. It's good to see this sort of work being recognised.

bpa.ac.uk/prizes2026/

Extract from an HMIP report showing that education at HMP & YOI Portland was judged as 'good' on every measure by Ofsted.

Well done to HMP Portland for getting 'good' from Ofsted for their education provision in today's @hmiprisonsnews.bsky.social report.

As the report notes, this is "a creditable outcome when compared to almost all other closed prisons for men".

hmiprisons.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmipris_repo...

Text from a report saying: "Drastic cuts of more than 50% to the education budget meant that the number of teachers had reduced dramatically and our colleagues at Ofsted rated the provision as ‘inadequate’."

Depressing but unsurprising to see this in today's @hmiprisonsnews.bsky.social report on HMP Manchester.

Prisons are having to adapt to big cuts in provision and it'd be impossible to absorb a 54% cut without it having a significant impact.

hmiprisons.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmipris_repo...

Exclusive: Women bear the brunt of prison education cuts Women in prison will bear the brunt of cuts in education provision, according to figures from the Ministry of Justice. Data covering 94 prisons in England and Wales show that the number of teaching…

Concerning analysis from Inside Time, looking at the impact of cuts to prison education provision on the women's estate.

insidetime.org/newsround/ex...

Good to see @feweek.bsky.social's Anviksha Patel digging into the data on cuts to prison education provision published earlier this week.

Last year, North Sea Camp had 92% attendance at education, the third highest of any prison. Now its education provision has been cut by 58%.

Thanks for covering this story! I think it's really important to highlight the scale of the cuts that have been made, particularly given that education is one of the things we know is effective in reducing reoffending.

My colleague @themarkages.bsky.social has written this excellent explainer examining new data from the Ministry of Justice revealing 25% cuts to prison education provision.

Prison education had been slowly improving. It's very hard to see how that'll be sustained in the face of these cuts.

This @hmiprisonsnews.bsky.social report highlights some great practice but also too many people not getting regular access to exercise.

Given how much time people in prison spend in their cells, this is really important to address.

hmiprisons.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/news/too-few...

Extract from a report saying "The governor and his team had successfully addressed many of our concerns in a difficult operating environment. The introduction of new education contracts delivering far fewer hours than previously had led to the loss of staff and had created uncertainty. Staffing levels were deteriorating and, if this could not be rectified, the progress made would be impossible to sustain."

Concerning to see this in today's @hmiprisonsnews.bsky.social review of progress at HMP Elmley.

Prisons are working hard to make improvements but where provision has been cut under new contracts it'll make sustaining improvements much harder.

hmiprisons.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmipris_repo...

It's a really great piece - thanks for doing it!

It’s a shame these are coming to an end - I’ve really enjoyed them. Silly but actually really insightful and brilliantly written.

This is really sad and upsetting, but still very much worth reading.

UCU publications Key UCU reports and publications.

It’s great to see University and College Union (UCU) publishing two reports exploring the experiences of prison teachers generally and prison teachers from minority ethnic groups specifically.

We don’t know enough about prison teachers. This research helps to fill that gap. Read the reports here ⬇️

No registration fee *and* you get a very stylish bright orange t-shirt.

And we come and cheer you on and wave tiny flags created by @frey-a.bsky.social!

When I worked at the Restorative Justice Council I was fortunate enough to meet Nick Dawson and hear about his experiences of restorative justice. This is well worth reading for anyone interested in why he took part in it and how he benefitted.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/03...

Congratulations to @leedsbeckett.bsky.social, who have won a Queen Elizabeth Prize for Education for their work in partnership with HMP Full Sutton.

www.leedsbeckett.ac.uk/news/2026/02...

More positive* news from @hmiprisonsnews.bsky.social today on the women's estate, with real progress being made on some of the worst elements of last year's thematic.

(* yes, it's not all great and there's still lots to be done but it's progress and there's not been too much of that recently.)

Text which reads "Inspectors found a well‑run prison where strong, trusting relationships between staff and women were central to its success. Women praised the compassion, patience and consistency shown by staff, and many reported improvements in their well‑being and confidence since arriving at the jail."

Most @hmiprisonsnews.bsky.social reports make for depressing reading so worth noting today's positive one on Low Newton.

'Good' for education and nice to see that women are "motivated by teachers’ warm encouragement and positive feedback".

hmiprisons.justiceinspectorates.gov.uk/hmipris_repo...

Graphic that reads: Join our Alumni Advisory Group - We're looking for passionate people with recent lived experience of prison education to help shape the future of PET. Find out more: prisonerseducation.org.uk/volunteer

We’re looking for passionate people with lived experience of prison education to join our Alumni Advisory Group - to help shape our strategy, strengthen our policy work, and keep learners at the centre of everything we do.

Find out how to join here: https://ow.ly/UkbN50YibZa

"What I saw during my session was inspirational. It was a reminder that books can be a gateway to a different life for all of us"

Really positive reflections from poet and novelist @timrelf.bsky.social on a session he ran in a prison library.

Due to a focus on reading by the prison inspectorate and Ofsted, progress is being made on literacy in prisons. But new education contracts have now cut education provision across the board
@jonbcollins.bsky.social @prisonersed.bsky.social

It’s madness to cut jail education as signs of improvement emerge Literacy programmes in prisons were just beginning to bear fruit, so how can reductions imposed by new teaching contracts make sense

Our CEO, Jon Collins, has written for FE Week on why we should be building on the positive signs of progress in prison education, not cutting courses and making staff redundant.

https://ow.ly/QL5G50Y8Klm

Text reads: "This year, The Reading Agency will launch Quick Reads as audiobooks for the first time, as well as giving half a million Quick Reads books to prisons across the UK. All Quick Read titles “go through a rigorous accessibility review process, including testing for readability, concentration, and suitability for adults rebuilding reading confidence”, according to the charity."

According to an article in the Guardian today, the @readingagency.bsky.social is planning to distribute half a million of their 'Quick Reads' books to prisons in the UK this year.

www.theguardian.com/books/2026/f...

‘It could be a shoe or a stick’: Sajid Javid on being beaten by his father, petty crime – and turning his life around As a young teenager, Javid and his brother were caught stealing from slot machines, arrested and held in a cell. His future hung in the balance. How did he get from there to the top of UK politics?

This article is a demonstration of the benefits of diverting young people away from from the justice system.

Would anyone be any better off if Sajid Javid and his brother had been charged and funnelled into, rather than away from, the justice system?

www.theguardian.com/politics/202...

Handwritten postcard that reads: "My distance learning course has been helping me to grow what I need knowledge wise to be able to gain the future I want. It has also been teaching me why I have had addiction in the past. Even though moving prisons recently has been stressful I feel my studying has helped me to keep a level head and reminded me of why my future will be better than my past."

It's the UNESCO International Day of Education. In just a few words, Vanessa - who started a counselling course with PET last year - shows why education is a human right, a public good and a public responsibility.

Probably a good time to reshare 'Getting Connected', our recent @prisonersed.bsky.social briefing on digital learning in prisons.

prisonerseducation.org.uk/2025/12/gett...

Handwritten postcard that reads: "This course has helped me a lot in prison, it has helped with my purpose, focus, and helped me develop my confidence in my own ability. I now have the confidence I can move to my next goal of completing AAT Accounting and know I will succeed."

We always love getting postcards from learners letting us know how they're getting on with their course.

Barry is taking his Bookkeeping Certificate with PET - the start of his journey to becoming a freelance accountant.

Literacy Behind Bars: a Silent Crisis We Can’t Ignore - P... More than half of people in UK prisons cannot read beyond primary-school level. Writing exclusively for Chamber UK, Paul Davies says that until we treat literacy as central to sentencing reform, rehab...

"We must properly fund prison education. Some institutions face cuts of up to 60% in their education provision. That’s not just short-sighted, it’s self-defeating."

Very good article on the importance of literacy and prison education by @pauldaviesmp.bsky.social.

politicsuk.com/literacy-beh...

Lee Child: Books let me escape my dull, grey Sixties childhood The Jack Reacher author, who is leading a drive to cut reoffending by raising literacy in jails, reveals the stories that gave him a world of adventure

Good to see the author Lee Child promoting the importance of literacy work in prisons, and the work he’s doing with the MP Paul Davies.

www.thetimes.com/uk/get-brita...