Time to change course on Education for Women in Prison

Annick Platt, Director of Operations for prison education provider Novus, outlines how more can be done to help ensure that female offenders can access programmes of education while completing their sentence in order to help them to secure employment upon release

With over 30 years’ experience working in custodial environments, including nine years as Head of Reducing Reoffending at HMP Styal, I have seen firsthand how different the women’s prison estate is from the men’s. As a result of this experience, I have, for quite some time, firmly held the belief that if we are to secure better outcomes for female offenders, then a different approach is needed to ensure that they can access training and education courses while serving their sentence.  

Time to Care: What Helps Women Cope in Prison?

It naturally follows on from this that I view the recent His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) report, Time to Care: What Helps Women Cope in Prison? as a long overdue and very welcome step in the right direction for highlighting the distinct needs of women in custody, many of whom are also victims of crime themselves.

The HMIP report highlights two critical factors that support rehabilitation: time out of cell with purposeful activities, and trauma support for prisoners.

The report’s findings reinforce what those working within the sector have long understood—women’s prisons require a trauma-informed and education-centric approach to create meaningful opportunities to break cycles of reoffending and ensure that women are able to successfully gain the skills they will need to sustain employment upon release.

Trauma support must be embedded across the female estate

If we are to make positive progress on this then it is essential that, as part of our approach, it is recognised that the majority of women in custody have faced significant trauma before their imprisonment. Trauma can be wide ranging and for many this can cover everything from experiencing adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), domestic abuse, sexual exploitation or substance misuse. If we are to support their rehabilitation effectively, we must acknowledge and address this trauma.

During my tenure at HMP Styal, my team worked in partnership with the charity Dignify to embed trauma-informed teaching methodologies across the female and youth estate. This included training all staff in trauma-sensitive approaches and ensuring that education induction processes were structured in a way that gave learners the best chance of success.

As an example, rather than enrolling new arrivals in education immediately, a short period of adjustment was introduced, allowing them to settle and adjust to the prison environment – which for many is a shock – before making decisions about their learning pathways. This small but significant change ensures that women can engage with education meaningfully, rather than when they are in a state of being overwhelmed by the immediate transition into custody.

This trauma-informed approach, which also integrates mental health support universally within education, must become the norm across all female prisons. It is not enough to model support systems on the male estate; a different approach is needed to recognise the unique circumstances of female offenders in order to ensure that women in custody receive the help they need to move forward.

Purposeful activity and education: a key to rehabilitation

Education is one of the most powerful tools for rehabilitation as it enables offenders to gain the skills they will need to secure the stable employment that is so crucial to breaking cycles of reoffending upon completion of their sentence. This is really brought into focus when factoring in that many female prisoners arrive in custody lacking confidence, basic literacy and numeracy skills, and the qualifications that would enable them to find work to support both themselves and their families.

Prison education plays a dual role: it provides vital rehabilitation opportunities while also offering the purposeful activity and structured time out of cell that the HMIP report identified as crucial for mental wellbeing. Creative enrichment programmes, for example, are particularly effective in engaging reluctant learners, allowing them to build confidence through artistic and vocational activities before transitioning into formal qualifications.

At Novus, we have seen firsthand the transformative impact of education. Case studies from HMP Styal illustrate how education can lead to tangible employment and business opportunities post-release, giving women a renewed sense of purpose and self-sufficiency. One former Novus learner, for instance, used the skills gained in custody to launch a business, breaking the cycle of reoffending and creating a sustainable future. Others used the skills they had acquired to find stable employment. These examples demonstrate that when women are given the right support, they can rebuild their lives.

Words are positive, actions are transforming

The HMIP report has reinforced what we already know: a trauma-informed, education-led approach is essential to improving outcomes for women in custody. We must now ensure that these recommendations translate into action. Fundamentally this starts with trauma-informed methodologies being embedded across all female prisons and ensuring that education is viewed as a cornerstone of rehabilitation, not an optional extra.

By prioritising trauma support and education, we can offer women in custody the tools they need to break free from cycles of offending. It is not simply time to care; it is time for meaningful, sustained action.

Annick Platt is  Director of Operations for national prison education provider Novus