How HMP Nottingham meets diverse learner needs in a remand prison

The challenge: how do you teach when the prison population never stops changing?

High churn is the defining feature of a remand prison, and it makes traditional courses hard to finish. HMP Nottingham is a bustling Category B male prison, mostly holding remand prisoners, in the heart of England.

Simon Harvey, its Education Manager, is employed by PeoplePlus, which works across 22 prisons in the Midlands and East of England, and he faces a challenge with no equivalent in a college or a workplace: providing effective learning to a population in constant flux.

Unlike sentenced prisoners, those on remand have uncertain lengths of stay, from a few days to several months, and they live alongside sentenced prisoners who could be serving anything from 2 to 25-year sentences.

Unlike a college or a workplace with well-defined cohorts, tutors and trainers must contend with a continual influx and outflow of learners. That poses three real problems:

• Disrupted learning: Traditional, longer courses become impractical when learners might be transferred before completion, losing valuable progress and motivation.
• Diverse needs: The prison houses individuals with varying educational backgrounds, aspirations, neurodiversity levels and lengths of stay. A one-size-fits-all approach does not work and is demotivating.
• Uncertain outcomes: Measuring the long-term impact of education on recidivism is complex, which makes the programme’s success hard to quantify.

The solution: unit-based qualifications that move with the learner

HMP Nottingham built its provision on qualifications that break into small, achievable units, so progress banks even when a learner is transferred. Working with Gateway Qualifications, the education team was able to tailor learning to the diverse needs of a transient population. Three things made it work:

• A small-unit structure: Qualifications can be broken into smaller, achievable units, so learners progress incrementally even during short stays. This chunked approach minimises learning loss and keeps continuity, even if a learner is transferred to another prison.
• A broad curriculum: A wide range of qualifications and units meets different needs and learning styles, from personal development and employability skills to specific topics such as British values and radicalisation. There is scope for very different learners.
• Responsive support: HMP Nottingham found the support responsive: concerns and queries answered promptly and efficiently, and a collaborative approach that made even new qualifications straightforward to introduce, which widened take-up.

The results: two journeys from HMP Nottingham into work

The benefits reached beyond qualification attainment. Learners at HMP Nottingham experienced a significant, positive change in their journey, and it showed in three ways: self-determination, as gaining knowledge and skills boosts self-confidence and a sense of purpose, crucial for rehabilitation and reintegration into society; employability, as job-ready skills like CV writing and interview techniques increase learners’ chances of securing employment upon release, reducing recidivism rates; and personal development, through units on budgeting, communication and social awareness that prepare individuals for a successful life beyond prison walls. Two learners show what that can look like.

Mr ‘R’, from an indeterminate sentence to self-employment. Facing an indeterminate sentence, Mr ‘R’ found focus and motivation in the peer mentoring qualification. He honed his communication, leadership and business skills, eventually establishing himself as a self-employed accountant upon release.

Mr ‘S’, a reluctant learner who came round. A former remand prisoner and a young man initially resistant to education, Mr ‘S’ saw the value of qualifications after securing a job with RailTrack. He completed the required units, showcasing the programme’s ability to motivate even reluctant learners.