23 January 2009
By Julie Read
National guidelines and strategies should be introduced to help prisons develop more consistent and effective learning and skills programmes for offenders, according to Ofsted.
The call came as the watchdog published two reports on learning and skills for long- and short-term prisoners.
These found there was a lack of clarity about what type of programmes were most appropriate for offenders serving sentences of different lengths.
The short-term offenders report found that four out of five prisons had well developed learning and skills programmes that were short enough for learners to achieve accreditation so that they were better equipped when they left.
But the range of programmes varied considerably between prisons.
None of the prisons visited had an explicit learning and skills strategy for offenders on long-term sentences.
Ofsted chief inspector Christine Gilbert said: 'There is some good work being done in individual institutions.
'However, we need greater overall consistency in the provision of learning programmes and a national system for recording data, so that offenders are given every opportunity to progress and develop their skills during the period of their custody and on release.'
Both reports emphasise that early assessment of learners' basic literacy and numeracy skills should be a high priority for all prisoners.
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