From 1 February 2020, HMI Prisons will be using revised expectations to assess education, skills and work in men’s prisons and children’s establishments.

Expectations are the criteria by which HMI Prisons inspects the treatment and conditions of those detained in prisons and young offender institutions. They are based on international human rights standards and are used to examine all aspects of life in detention.

The expectations for education, skills and work in men’s prisons and young offender institutions have been revised to incorporate Ofsted’s new inspection framework.

In England, inspections of prisons and children in custody are carried out jointly with Ofsted. Ofsted inspectors lead on the inspection of education, skills and work. To ensure that establishments are held accountable to the same standard of performance as schools and colleges in the community, HMI Prisons’ expectations for education, skills and work explicitly adopt Ofsted’s inspection framework. Ofsted has recently changed its inspection framework following extensive consultation. The new framework is informed by research into educational effectiveness and has a focus on the curriculum.

We hope that these updated expectations will support establishments in their efforts to improve outcomes for prisoners in education, skills and work.

This joint letter (156 kB) from Ofsted and HMI Prisons contains further information. The revised Expectations for men’s prisons and children in custody are now available on our website.