Staff shortages and problems linked to gangs have been blamed for a 12 per cent fall in the amount of time young people in young offender institutions (YOIs) spend in the classroom.
Figures published in parliament show that across the four state-run institutions - Cookham Wood YOI in Kent, Feltham YOI in west London, Werrington YOI in Staffordshire, and Wetherby YOI in Yorkshire - young people spent an average of 13.96 hours in the classroom in 2017, nearly two hours less than in 2015 when the figure was 15.85 hours.
The drop in classroom time comes despite a government focus in recent years on placing education at the centre of youth custody. In August 2015, the Ministry of Justice introduced a target for young people in custody to receive 30 hours of education provision each week, under a contract with Novus and Prospects worth a combined £12m a year.
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