How Novus Helps Prepare Prisoners for Employment After Release

Finding work after leaving prison remains one of the most powerful factors in reducing the risk of reoffending. Official Ministry of Justice data show that securing employment after release is associated with significantly lower reoffending, yet barriers to achieving that employment remain substantial.

According to the MoJ’s Offender Employment Outcomes data to March 2025, around 34.5% of prison leavers were in employment six months after release, which is a notable improvement on previous years but still far below where it needs to be to break the cycle of reoffending at scale.

At Novus, we believe education is the vital bridge between a prison sentence and a stable, productive life. This article explains how we support learners from their first day in education through to sustainable employment after release.

The scale of the challenge

The need is clear. Around 47% of people entering the criminal justice system have no formal qualifications, and approximately 57% struggle with very low literacy levels. Without the skills to compete in the job market, the risk of reoffending rises sharply.

The overall reoffending rate in England and Wales currently stands at 28.9%, rising to over 66% for those serving sentences of less than 12 months. Reoffending costs the English and Welsh taxpayer around £22 billion every year. These are not just statistics. They represent real people, real families, and real communities affected by a cycle that education and employment can genuinely help to break.

Why education comes first

Before a learner can think about employment, many need to rebuild their relationship with learning itself. For a significant number of our learners, previous experiences of education were negative, disrupted, or non-existent. Disengagement from school, undiagnosed learning difficulties, and a lack of support early in life are all common threads in the backgrounds of people who end up in prison.

This is why, at Novus, we place so much emphasis on rebuilding confidence in education as a first step. Our specialist teams plan lessons that meet learners where they are, recognising that a person who has been let down by education before needs a different experience this time. When that trust is established, everything else becomes possible.

Research conducted by the Ministry of Justice found that people who participated in education whilst in prison were significantly less likely to reoffend within 12 months of release than those who had not. Education in prison also brings wider benefits: improved employment prospects, greater personal resilience, stronger family relationships, and a more positive impact on the wider community.

Vocational training built around the job market

Practical, hands-on training is central to what we offer. Vocational courses give learners industry-relevant skills and nationally recognised qualifications that employers value. At Novus, we offer a wide range of vocational programmes including Hair and Beauty, Bricklaying, Hospitality, Catering, Construction, and Digital Technologies, all designed to prepare learners for real roles in real workplaces.

Crucially, our vocational programmes are not developed in isolation. We work directly with employers to co-design training that reflects the current needs of industry, so that learners graduate with skills that are genuinely in demand. Our partnership with The Right Course is one example of how employer collaboration creates meaningful, hands-on vocational experience for learners in high-security environments.

We also support learners to access prisoner apprenticeship programmes, available to those in open prisons, which offer structured, accredited routes into skilled employment alongside our sister organisation Total People.

Novus Works: from education to employment

Getting a qualification is a vital step, but it is only part of the journey. Our dedicated Novus Works team bridges the gap between education and employment, working alongside prison colleagues, education teams, and employer partners to prepare learners for life after release.

The Novus Works team helps people nearing release to explore job and training options, playing an important role in identifying the right people for roles, preparing them for work, and connecting them with opportunities that match their skills and goals.

Support includes CV writing, job searching, application guidance, interview preparation, and advice on disclosing a conviction to an employer. At some sites, such as HMP Doncaster, the Novus Works team is present in the Departure Lounge on the day of release itself, offering practical support at the most critical moment in a learner's resettlement journey.

Employer partnerships that open real doors

Employment opportunities for prison leavers do not happen by chance. They are built through relationships. Novus has spent over 30 years developing partnerships with local and national employers who understand the value of hiring motivated, trained prison leavers.

Partners have included Greene King, Balfour Beatty, Marston's, and the Manufacturers Alliance, among many others, creating employer-led training academies and direct routes into employment from within prison.

Our ambition is to significantly increase the number of prison leavers who find and keep meaningful employment, empowering our learners to find a career they love, develop self-sustainability, and build a positive future for themselves after release.

The difference it makes

When everything comes together, with confidence in learning, a vocational qualification, job-readiness support, and a willing employer, the outcomes speak for themselves. Learners leave prison with more than a CV. They leave with a sense of purpose, a plan, and the practical tools to act on it.

While fewer than one in three prison leavers are in employment six months after release, this figure has improved significantly in recent years as employer engagement and education pathways have strengthened. At Novus, we are committed to continuing to drive that progress, one learner, one qualification, one job at a time.

If you are an employer who would like to work with us to support prison leavers into employment, we would love to hear from you. Get in touch with the Novus team today.