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Written question asked by Ruth Cadbury (Labour) on Friday, 5 January 2024, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 11 January 2024 (named day). It was answered by Edward Argar (Conservative) on Thursday, 11 January 2024 on behalf of the Ministry of Justice.

Prisoners: Education

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many adult prisoners were undertaking level (a) 2 and (b) 3 courses in each academic year since September 2015.

Answer

Until 2018-19, education provision in prisons was the responsibility of the Department for Education. Figures for subsequent years, with the exception of 2020-21, are shown in the table below.

During much of the Covid pandemic in 2020-21, prison regimes were restricted, and education delivered remotely. As collection of data was suspended for a period, figures for 2020-21 are not available. The return to classroom learning in 2021-22 enabled data collection to resume, but the effect of the regime restrictions can be seen in the statistics for that year. As of 9 May 2022, all Covid-19 related regime restrictions were removed.

Year

Learners studying below Level 2

Learners studying at Level 2

Learners studying at Level 3

2019-20

59,891

24,772

1,226

2021-22

39,419

15,345

841

2022-23

48,590

22,465

1,960

Note: Data sourced from the CURIOUS data collection system.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
7940
Session
2023-24
Subjects
Education Prisoners
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk