DWRM works with universities to offer a much wider range of degree courses than are currently available to students in prison. We focus on the provision of study materials, tuition and greater participation in a learning community so as to properly engage students.

As there is currently very limited support for prisoners on release, this tends to mean students are unable to complete their course or sit the required exams. Such students become disillusioned and often lost in terms of continuing with their education. We bridge that gap by providing post release support to enable students to attend university campus to complete their degree.

Although our initial focus is on Higher Education, we adopt a flexible provision which incorporates Further Education and Apprenticeships. This option to “earn while you learn” is highly suited to people leaving prison and is now available thanks to recent changes in the legislation. We are keen to promote this progressive opportunity, with the support of appropriate partners.

Students are our focus

Students in prison are the core of this social enterprise. Many have had negative experiences in the education system before going to prison, and that this often masks an intellectual ability and a voice which needs to be heard. A lack of opportunity to pursue university level education means that people are denied access to professional roles where they can engage in policy making, having an influence on the very systems that contributed to their disadvantage.

University partners

Many universities already recognise that they have a role to play in rectifying this imbalance and are keen to partner with us to open up their curriculum in prisons. Prison University Partnerships are already operating successfully in the UK and across the world. These open up the possibility of Higher Education for people in prison and offer a taste of the learning community that is so highly prized. But most offer only short-term courses which do not lead to tangible outcomes and qualifications.

One of the goals of our target group is to secure gainful employment on release from prison, which will enable them to successfully settle back into society, with a greater sense of confidence and self-esteem.

We seek to address this by taking people from an unqualified position to achieving a respected qualification that will create new career opportunities and contribute to lower re-offending rates.

We have an ambitious long-term plan to increase the number of students accessing Further and Higher Education in prison to 25% of the prison population within 10 years – an increase of 20,000 students.

We appreciate the support of our grant funders, partners, networks  and other agencies as we work to achieve this goal.