The Prison Reform Trust has called for a debate on the practice, suggesting it could lead to problems such as bullying.
Concerns over older prisoners being sent to YOIs have also been raised in the latest report on Portland YOI, in Dorset.
The report by the independent monitoring board for the YOI, released this week, reveals the establishment will "start to receive older prisoners", and that the situation could create "anxieties".
The prison estate has been under pressure from an increase in inmates in recent months, although the number of young people in custody has dropped significantly in recent years.
Penelope Gibbs, director of the Prison Reform Trust’s Out of Trouble programme, said: "More and more YOIs are introducing adults to what should be a young adult establishment. More young adults are also being locked up in prisons rather than YOIs.
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