The government has announced new contracts for Prison Education Services, and Milton Keynes College Group has been given the responsibility for twenty-nine state sector prisons.
The result of the tender means the College Group will remain one of the largest providers of such education services in the country, with almost a third of the prison estate coming under its remit. The new contracts will run up to 2029.
The Group will be responsible for three groups of prisons; Kent, Surrey and Sussex (11 prisons), Avon and South Dorset & Devon and North Dorset (10 prisons) and the one which includes the Milton Keynes region, South Central (9 prisons from Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire to the south coast). It also holds the contract for the privately-run, Fosse Way prison in Leicestershire.
CEO and Principal of MK College Group, Sally Alexander, says, “This announcement represents a significant vote of confidence in the work of our prison education services teams and we’re enormously proud of them and the work they do. Over the years, hundreds of offenders have gone from prison to work and fulfilling careers, going back to their families and communities to become constructive, taxpaying members of society. Done well, prison education works in cutting reoffending rates and healing damaged lives. It is beneficial for society and the economy.”
The College prison education services have an enviable record, with 97% of 33,559 offender learners completing their courses. 103,153 individual qualifications have been achieved in a multitude of courses such as Functional skills, IT, Construction, Catering, Barbering, Business, Employability, Creative (Arts, Drama and Music etc) Well-being and Personal Development.
Prison Education Services represent a significant contribution to the income of the College Group, and the work undertaken in the sector dovetails with the provision of quality education in the College and at the South Central Institute of Technology.
Sally says, “I would like to take the opportunity to thank all those people who’ve worked so hard in our prison services team to ensure that the Ministry of Justice’s trust in us has been maintained. Your work touches and changes many lives, and will continue to do so in the future, thanks to these contract awards. What you do is the embodiment of Milton Keynes College Group’s core aim, to provide Fairer Futures for All.”
To find out more about prison education from MK College Group, visit Prison Services - MK College.
