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Sir Martyn Oliver, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills, and Charlie Taylor, His Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Prisons, have expressed their deep concern at declining standards in young offender institutions.

Young offender institutions house children and young people who have committed a criminal offence. They play a vital role in helping to turn around the lives of these children and young people. They are meant to offer at least 15 hours of education a week.

A joint review by Ofsted and His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP), published today, shows that educational opportunities for children in YOIshave been steadily declining for the last decade.

Ofsted’s Chief Inspector, Sir Martyn Oliver said:

I am deeply concerned by these findings. The children in these institutions are entitled to a high-quality education that supports them to turn their lives around. The system is failing them.

I am especially concerned that children are spending extended periods in isolation, further compromising their opportunity to become successful and productive citizens upon their release.

HMIP’s Chief Inspector, Charlie Taylor said:

Children in custody are among the most troubled and challenging in society, often with experience of being in care and having had very disrupted education in the community. Their time in custody ought to represent a golden opportunity to address that through consistent interventions and support, but we continue to report on very poor provision, particularly for those children separated from their peers in response to conflict. Education in our YOIs needs to be prioritised and its delivery transformed if we want to see less youth crime and more children going on to lead successful lives.

The review finds that both the quality and quantity of education have reduced over 10 years, and children have access to far too few work experience opportunities. It identifies YOI staff’s inability to manage children’s complex behaviours as one of the main reasons for the poor quality of education. Effective behaviour management strategies are not put in place, which means children are often kept in isolation, apart from their peers and unable to access enough hours of education. Combined with staff shortages, it is harder for staff to build relationships with children.

The review also finds that the time children spend out of their cells has reduced sharply, with some children allowed as little as half an hour a day outside their cell.

Inspectors from Ofsted and HMIP found that poor leadership and a lack of cooperation between education providers and YOI leaders mean that leaders and managers have established very few effective sustainable measures to deal with rapidly declining standards at YOIs.

Today’s review makes a number of recommendations for youth custody service leaders, including:

Notes to editors

1. The report draws on Ofsted and HMIP’s 32 full inspection reports, and 5 reports following independent reviews of progress across a 10-year period from June 2014 to March 2024.

2. It also draws on comments from the views of young offenders in custody, comments from leaders at education providers, YOI leaders and managers, and inspectors’ findings.