Ex-offenders offered scholarships as new data shows impact of HE

Higher education can reduce reoffending rates among prisoners, new data suggest, but there are warnings that this is being hampered by pressures including staff shortages and overcrowding. 

New data from the Ministry of Justice show that studying with The Open University (OU) delivers “significant reductions” in reoffending amongst prison learners.

Analysis of almost 5,000 prison learners who took part in OU higher education programmes between 1986 and 2023 found that those who engaged with the programmes were 22 per cent less likely to reoffend within a year of release than similar prisoners who did not. 

It also found that those studying committed 37 per cent fewer offences within a year of release. 

In a statement, the OU warned that while the results were positive, “the impact of education has been hampered in recent years by external pressures such as the pandemic, staff shortages, and the prison overcrowding crisis”. 

The institution said it was calling for policy changes to “improve digital access in prisons, strengthen post-release study support, and extend student loan eligibility”. 

“If government were to strengthen support for access to education in prisons, the positive outcomes for individuals, communities and the wider justice system could be considerable,” said David Phoenix, vice-chancellor of the OU. 

It comes as Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) launches a new scholarship programme to support young people “with lived experience of the criminal justice system” to pursue higher education.

Nine undergraduate students, who either have first hand experience of prison or whose parents and guardians have spent time in prison, will receive funding for the duration of their studies and be supported by a dedicated staff member.

“Young people with experience of the criminal justice system, many of whom have experienced trauma, have some of the worst educational and life outcomes of this social group,” said Edwina Grosvenor, a leading prison reform advocate and sponsor of the new scholarships. “This needs to change.”

These students are also at greater risk of withdrawing from their course after enrolment, according to the university. 

The scholarships are available for all subject areas, with a particular focus on sociology and criminology as part of a wider goal to “nurture future policymakers who can drive systemic change informed by their lived experiences,” the university says in a statement. 

“Many of our students who have experience of the justice or care system go on to work in this field, driven by the desire to improve the system for others,” said Julie Scott Jones, deputy pro-vice-chancellor at MMU. 

Speaking anonymously, a MMU student with a criminal record described enrolling in higher education as “life-changing”. 

"I was born into an at-risk family and spent most of my childhood in local authority care,” she said.

“Unfortunately, like many other care-experienced people, these adverse experiences along with a lack of learned life skills at the time, contributed towards making some bad decisions that resulted in a lengthy criminal record.”

She said the record “became a barrier in just about everything I did, making it seemingly impossible to turn my life around”.

“My undergraduate course [in the university’s sociology and criminology school] not only helped me professionally in the skills and knowledge I gained but also helped me make sense of my journey and understand the power of my lived experience and how I can use that to challenge and change the systems I went through.”

helen.packer@timeshighereducation.com