Apprenticeships for prisoners
Earlier this month, the Ministry of Justice announced that it will change the law to allow prisoners to access apprenticeship opportunities whilst they are still serving time but are out on day release, or nearing the end of their sentence.
Here at Novus, we’re really excited about this move to allow prisoners to start apprenticeships. Having a clear career path through an apprenticeship will help to reduce reoffending by supporting more of our learners into work.
As part of the LTE group, we already successfully run apprentice programmes through our Total people brand and we understand the value that apprenticeships can bring, however up until now this valuable path into a chosen career has been unavailable for our learners in prison settings.
Apprenticeships supporting Prison education
Our Managing Director, Peter Cox said: “Opening up apprenticeships to more prisoners is a positive step in reducing reoffending. Using education and training to support offenders from prison into employment is a crucial step in giving them the tools they need to transform their lives.
“Nine out of ten businesses that hire ex-offenders say they are reliable, good at their job, punctual and trustworthy. Novus already partners with dozens of employers in a wide range of employment sectors, and this announcement will allow us to provide direct routes into jobs with even more businesses in the community to address local skills needs.
“Novus is already carrying out a pilot involving serving prisoners carrying out training during their sentences, which will allow them to complete an apprenticeship more quickly upon their release. We are keen to explore how we can use our strong employer links to make use of the new flexibilities announced by the MoJ, and to discuss how apprenticeships could be made available to offenders in even more prisons.”
What are the challenges to running apprenticeships in prison settings?
If we want to make sure that apprenticeships in prison settings are a success, we need to make sure that we understand the challenges to making this happen. Peter Cox highlighted the top challenges to unlocking prison apprenticeships in this article in FE Week.
If you would like to know more about apprenticeships, or if you are interested in speaking to us about providing employment opportunities for our learners, please get in touch.
