Isle of Man Prison Achieve 100% Pass Rate For GCSE English Exam

Six prisoners at the Isle of Man Prison have obtained passing marks (grades A through to D) in their GCSE English exam.

University College Isle of Man (UCM) offer an education service at the Isle of Man (IOM) Prison; currently 55% of the prison population are participating in some form of education offered by the College.

The UCM prison education programme enables inmates to study functional skills such as GCSE and A-Level English and Maths, IT, Cookery and other relevant areas that can help them to gain valuable qualifications, which will enhance their employability upon release, and help with integrating back into society.

Dr Alex Allinson MHK, Minister for Education, Sport and Culture, said “The key to rehabilitation is empowering offenders to function effectively in the community upon their release. I would like to congratulate these individuals on achieving these remarkable results in their GCSE English. I hope that they will take their academic success as an opportunity to progress in their future, and I wish them all the best.”

The prison also recently entered the Koestler Awards, a competition which occurs within prisons across the UK, and the offenders achieved exceptional results, with 14 receiving awards for their artwork, creative writing, poems and craftwork projects. 

The competition also saw two young offenders both receive a distinction in a computer exam shortly before Christmas. 

(Mrs) Cathy Lord, Education Manager at UCM for IOM Prison, explained “Participation in education classes is not compulsory within the prison, therefore I must commend the offenders who make the positive choice to study and work towards rehabilitation”.