At the end of March 2026, the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) published prison-by-prison transparency data covering the amount of planned core education hours between April 2025 and March 2027. This period includes the final six-months under the old Prisoner Education Framework (PEF) between April and September 2025, the first six months of the Prisoner Education Service (PES) between October 2025 and March 2026, and the next 12 months between April 2026 and March 2027.

Although the publication of such data is welcome, as it provides some much-needed transparency and clarity on past and upcoming planned education allocations, the figures provided are a far cry from what the voluntary sector working in prison education has advocated for.

How are core education contracts delivered in prison?

Currently, core education is delivered in prison through the new Prison Education Service (PES). As of October 2025, PES handles large-scale core education contracts awarded regionally to major providers. These providers are currently Milton Keynes College, People Plus and Novus, who have recently been awarded contracts ‘worth up to £1.5 billion to “overhaul” heavily criticised education and training in England’s prisons.’

The PES focuses on three main priorities:

1. Enhancing numeracy and literacy
2. Motivating people in prison to gain qualifications for post-release employment
3. Equipping prison governors with tools for effective delivery

The PES replaced the Prison Education Framework (PEF) because the Ministry of Justice wanted a new model that put more emphasis on work-based training, skills, and clearer national oversight, rather than the more fragmented PEF commissioning approach. The change was presented as a way to improve quality, outcomes, and consistency across prisons, with the new prison education service designed to be more closely aligned to prison governance and rehabilitation goals.

Despite these commendable ambitions, planned prison education hours have seen a massive drop.

Planned prison education hours have dropped

The data shows a 25% decrease in planned core education hours between the final six months of the PEF (April 2025 to September 2025) and the first six months of the PES (October 2025 to March 2026).

More specifically, there was a 21% drop in planned core education hours between the period from April 2025 to September 2025 and the period from October 2025 to March 2026, decreasing from 641,293.50 hours to 506,615.73 hours. There is a further 5% drop planned from the period between October 2025 and March 2026 to April 2026 to March 2027.

The data also shows that the median change in hours across prisons was -22%, with half of prisons falling between -9% and -34%. At prison level, the range is wide: HMP North Sea Camp saw the biggest fall at -58%, while HMP Coldingley saw the biggest increase at 49%.

Caveats to the Data

Planned vs Actual Delivery Volumes:

It is important to emphasise that the data above reflects planned hours of education under each contract, rather than the hours of education actually delivered for each period. That means they tell us what was commissioned, not what people in prison actually received, and the report notes that there will be opportunity to refine plans during the contract year.

In fact, there is no currently available data which showcases the amount of core education hours that people in prison have received, which points to a wider issue about transparency and accountability. Instead, the Ministry of Justice’s prison education statistics record assessments, course participation, achievement, accredited programme starts/completions in public prisons in England, as well as accredited programmes in England and Wales.

Year-on-year Comparisons of Planned Core Education Volumes:

The Ministry of Justice warns against making direct year-on-year budget comparisons at the prison level, because the new PES contracts changed the structure of provision. Core education budgets no longer cover digital infrastructure, which is now delivered directly by the Ministry of Justice, and careers information, advice and guidance is now commissioned nationally rather than locally through the Prison Education Delivery Procurement Service (PEDPS). As such, there is not a comparable picture of how prison core education volumes have changed at this time.

Since the provided data only accounts for planned hours, and because the commissioning system has reportedly changed so fundamentally that comparisons are difficult, it is essential that moving forward, the voluntary sector receive clearer evidence on what is actually being delivered, who is able to access it, and whether the new model is actually improving outcomes.

What’s driving the variation?

The report says the differences between prisons are largely explained by a reset of the funding formula, updated centrally to reflect prison size, prison function and regional costs. It also notes that prisons can split their budgets between core education and PEDPS, and that course mix matters because different courses cost different amounts.

Although a reduction in core education hours may not mean a straightforward reduction in all learning activity, it does raise questions about whether the new commissioning model is delivering stable, equitable access to education across the estate, especially in prisons where needs are greatest and local capacity is already stretched.

What this means for the voluntary sector

It is no secret that education in prisons is central to hope, routine, confidence and progression, and many voluntary organisations work alongside prisons to help people engage with learning, build skills and make the most of opportunities once they are available. For the voluntary sector, a drop in commissioned hours may make that work harder, particularly where provision is already fragmented or where people in prison face multiple barriers to participation (such as restricted regimes, where people can be confined to their cell for up to 23 hours a day).

What we’ll be watching

Beyond the headline reduction, our priority will be to ensure that the new service translates into consistent, meaningful education on the ground. We will continue to work with the voluntary sector to interrogate how these funding changes affect access, participation and progression, and whether prisons are able to balance core education with the wider support people need to learn effectively.

Next Steps and Call to Action

At a recent Reducing Reoffending Third Sector Advisory Group (RR3) Education seat holder meeting, officials shared with us that they are looking at how they can publish education data more transparently and ensure that the data that is published considers what is relevant to the needs of the voluntary sector.

In partnership with our RR3 Seat Holder for Education, Jon Collins (Chief Executive of the Prisoners’ Reform Trust), we are inviting voluntary sector organisations to share their experiences of accessing prison education data and identify where important information is missing or difficult to obtain. We would like to know about:

• Any limitations in current datasets,
• Suggestions for improvements to how data is published and presented, and
• How better access to education data could support service design, delivery and evaluation