Prisoners leaving some of the country’s highest risk jails are potentially more likely to recommit crimes because of deteriorating education provision behind bars, two chief inspectors have warned. Chief inspector of prisons Charlie Taylor and Ofsted chief inspector Martyn Oliver today published a stark letter to justice secretary Alex Norris outlining the government’s failure to transform prison education since the landmark 2016 Coates review. The most recent overall reoffending rates are now higher than those seen prior to the pandemic – reaching 28.8 per cent between January and March 2024. Both chief inspectors said they “feel that it is reasonable to assume that poorer quality provision has contributed to this picture”. Ofsted grades for prisons across England and Wales have plummeted from 44 per cent ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ in 2017 to “just 18 per cent” in 2025. The inspectors warned that the “significant real-terms cuts” to prison education in October 2025, resulting in some prisons losing more than 50 per cent of their education hours, “risks making an appalling situation even worse”. They specifically highlighted the impact of cuts on the long-term high secure estate, warning that prisoners could leave jail no better equipped to turn their lives around than when they arrived – and in some cases, even more likely to commit crime. At HMP Manchester, inspectors found that cuts had resulted in the loss of “many” education staff and a “severe curtailment” of learning opportunities. The prison was rated ‘inadequate’ across all Ofsted judgments at its inspection earlier this year, repeating its previous performance. At HMP Norwich, much of the vocational training at its category C site has ended. The inspectors said the few prisons maintaining good provision were doing so through the “tenacity and innovation” of staff – achieving results “despite” the funding environment. The letter added that prison governors across the country have reported the loss of vocational courses that equip prisoners with practical skills and boost employability, including construction, catering, cycle mechanics, engineering technology and electrical installation. Ofsted has also found numbers of available spaces in essential core subjects such as maths, English, and English for speakers of other languages being reduced “significantly”, as well as cuts in support for those who need to improve their reading. The letter comes six months after justice minister Alex Norris acknowledged that at least 79 prisons had suffered education budget cuts of up to 58 per cent under the Prison Education Service contract introduced in October 2025. Ministers have faced accusations of downplaying the impact of the cuts since the contract was approved. The intervention marks ten years since Dame Sally Coates’ independent review of prison education called for high-quality teachers, improved funding to support “ambitious” curriculums and digital systems to enable flexible learning. Taylor and Oliver said: “Rather than the transformation Dame Sally called for, with good-quality education and training at its heart, too many prisons are characterised by a lack of education, skills and work activity and limited regimes.” Dame Sally told FE Week that the letter made her question the value of carrying out the review in the first place, describing it as potentially little more than a “dusty review on a shelf somewhere”. “We just park things by saying let’s do a review, and everybody thinks something’s happening,” she said. “But actually, what action happens as a result of the review? Perhaps they should ask me to do a review of my review.” Dame Sally, now executive principal at Holland Park School, said prison education was the “biggest driver” of reducing reoffending. She pointed to the estimated £59,000 annual cost of an adult prison place, against Ministry of Justice data from 2020 showing that 57 per cent of adult prisoners had literacy levels below those expected of an 11-year-old. But she warned that the long-term benefits of investing in prison education were often overlooked. “I just think a lot of governments don’t think about long term. Also, putting lots of money into education in prisons is not necessarily top of the public agenda either.” The MoJ has been approached for comment.