Failing to teach prisoners to read is 'huge missed opportunity'

Failing to teach prisoners to read leaves up to half unable to access vital rehabilitative education while in prison, according to new research by Ofsted and HMI Prisons.

Without the ability to read, released prisoners will find it harder to make a successful return to society.

The joint report on prison education, published today, highlights the barriers preventing prisoners from receiving the support they need to learn how to read or improve their reading skills. It finds the reading education on offer in many of the prisons visited by the inspectorates was minimal at best.

The inspectorates found that leaders’ focus was on enrolling prisoners on courses aimed at gaining qualifications, even though up to 50% of the prisoner population could not read well enough to take part. As a result, prisoners who need the most support with education are largely overlooked.

The report finds that, in most prisons, the curriculum is not focused on reading but on practising for exams. Prisoners are not encouraged to enjoy reading, to apply their reading skills across their life, or to read whole books. Many staff did not know how to teach reading. This lack of adequate reading education means that quality support has been left to voluntary organisations or enthusiastic staff members.

In addition, prisons do not have systems in place to identify prisoners’ reading needs or track their progress. In most of the prisons visited for the research, routine phonics screening assessments were not being used to identify the gaps in prisoners’ knowledge and skills, and information on prisoners’ learning was not routinely shared with other prisons.

Today’s report also notes the benefits of prison libraries and how they can encourage prisoners to read. Unfortunately, the use of libraries continues to be severely limited due to practical constraints, such as staff shortages and time clashes with prisoners’ working hours or other education sessions.