Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to Question 88987 on 21 November 2022, what the annual average prisoner's level of (a) numeracy, (b) literacy, (c) skills and qualification has been since 2010.

Prior to 2019, the education contract was managed through the Department for Education and funded by Education, Skills and Funding Agency. Data for that period are therefore not held.

Attendance levels for the period 2019 to date are shown below:

It should be noted the data reflects attendance in education classrooms. Education delivery is increasingly taking place in workshops, wings and in cell. Attendance data for these elements are not available.

The assessment tables below highlight the assessment scores in Mathematics and English between 2019 and 2022, which inform how prisoners are allocated appropriate education courses based on their needs, and ability.

Since the conclusion of the National Framework for Prison Regimes and Services in May 2022, we are securing increasing numbers of learners back in the classroom and increasing participation in rehabilitative activities.

As set out in the Prisons Strategy White Paper, we are committed to improving education in prisons and we are delivering a Prisoner Education Service to raise prisoners’ levels of numeracy, literacy, skills and qualifications, with the aim of helping them secure jobs upon release and drive down re-offending.