Rehabilitation and resettlement

Reoffending rates are hard, if not impossible, to measure. Published figures almost invariably use reconviction as a proxy measure. But reconviction can be affected by many factors, in particular the priorities set by police and their ability to detect crime. We use published material on reconvictions as the best available indicator of probable trends in reoffending.

In this section, we explore the factors influencing the likelihood of reoffending, assess how effectively prisons help individuals develop skills and secure employment, and examine how well they support successful reintegration through access to housing and job opportunities upon release.

Reoffending

A 2019 study has estimated the annual total economic and social cost of reoffending as £18.1bn.¹

Research for the Sentencing Council found that “the current evidence does not suggest that increasing the length of immediate prison sentences is an effective way to reduce reoffending.”²

A Ministry of Justice study found that the one-year reoffending rate was four percentage points higher for short-term custodial sentences than a community order or a suspended sentence order, and that the number of reoffences committed was also higher.³

For people with more than 50 previous offences, the odds of reconviction increase by 36% when a short prison sentence is used rather than a community sentence.⁴

Factors which can affect reconviction rates

Source: Brunton-Smith, I. & Hopkins, K. (2013) The factors associated with proven reoffending following release from prison: Findings from waves 1-3 of SPCR. Ministry of Justice.

Purposeful activity

Purposeful activity includes education, work and other activities to aid rehabilitation whilst in prison.

In 2024–25, just under a third (30%) of inspectors’ recommendations for purposeful activity from previous inspections remained unachieved.⁵ HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) continues to report purposeful activity as the worst performing area it inspects, with too many prisoners stuck in their cells or on wings with too little to do.⁶

Of the 37 inspections of prisons and young offender institutions conducted by Ofsted (England) and Estyn (Wales) during 2024–25, less than a third (32%) were judged to be providing education, work or skills at a reasonable standard.⁷

Only 10 out of 38 adult prisons received a positive rating from HMIP for purposeful activity in 2024–25 (26%)—up from 21% in the previous year. Four were open prisons.⁸

In a 2024 review of time out of cell, inspectors found that spending so much time locked up negatively impacted on prisoners’ mental and physical health, prevented them from completing basic tasks, and led to a greater belief among those locked up longer that they were more likely to reoffend.⁹

Education

Engagement with education can significantly reduce reoffending. A 2017 review found that the proven one-year reoffending rate is 34% for prisoner learners, compared to 43% for people who don’t engage in any form of learning.¹⁰

However, inspection bodies have raised serious concerns that the introduction of new prison education contracts has resulted in significant budget cuts for many prisons in real terms.¹¹ Independent Monitoring Boards at 41 prisons reported average budget reductions of between 36% and 45% with some reporting up to 65%, and a reduction in available classes.¹²

Literacy levels amongst the prison population remain significantly lower than in the general population. In 2024–25, prisoners took a total of 49,186 initial assessments in English. Almost two-thirds of assessment outcomes (65%) were at the equivalent literacy level expected of an 11-year-old or younger¹³ —more than four times higher than in the general adult population (15%).¹⁴

55,105 adults in the prison system participated in education courses in the 2024–25 academic year—a 10% increase compared with last year.¹⁵

49,135 qualifications were achieved by prisoners in 2024–25—an 8% increase on the previous year.¹⁶

But there is variation in basic functional skills. Qualifications in English and Maths increased by 9% and 6% respectively, but ICT-related qualifications decreased by a fifth (19%).¹⁷

Employment

The New Futures Network develops partnerships between prisons and employers to create employment opportunities in prison and on release. Over 400 businesses now work with prisons to provide work and employment opportunities.¹⁸ The Future Skills programme provides training to prisoners nearing release, followed by guaranteed interviews.¹⁹

Release on Temporary Licence (ROTL) plays an important part in helping people to prepare for release, particularly for people serving long sentences. Following a full risk assessment, it allows people to reconnect with the world they will rejoin. People may take part in work and volunteering, obtain ID and bank accounts, re-establish contact with their families, find accommodation and practice new or unfamiliar life skills.

In 99.8% of incidences, ROTL was completed successfully in 2024.²⁰ In 2017 (the most recent data available) there were just 11 failures because of alleged further offending out of more than 350,000 instances of ROTL.²¹

People who are given ROTL have lower rates of reoffending on release. The more that ROTL is used, the greater the impact on reducing reoffending and the fewer the number of offences people commit.²²

On average, 1,080 people per month were working out of prison on licence during 2024–25—a 9% decrease on the previous year, and the first fall in numbers since the pandemic. They paid £302 per month on average to the Prisoners’ Earnings Act levy—nearly a fifth of their net earnings (18%). The levy goes toward supporting victims of crime.²³

Working for victims

People in prison have raised £25m through the Prisoners' Earnings Act levy—particularly in the last three years

Source: HM Prison and Probation Service Annual Digest, April 2024 to March 2025.

Resettlement

Nearly everyone in prison will be released at some point. In 2024, 57,277 people were released at the end of the custodial term of their sentence.²⁴

Of 38 adult prisons inspected in 2024–25, only nine were rated ‘good’ for release preparation, including four open prisons.²⁵ Inspectors highlighted that staff shortages and population pressures are negatively impacting resettlement. They praised the use of resettlement boards in some prisons, which begin preparations three months ahead of release.²⁶

But inspectors found that only half of surveyed men (48%) and three in 10 women (29%) were due to be released from a prison in their home area.²⁷

Finance, benefits and debt

Some people are entitled to receive a subsistence payment to help them on release. In 2023 the subsistence payment was raised to £89.52. But an annual rise is not guaranteed, and no further rises have occurred since then. Thousands of prisoners also remain ineligible, including people released from remand; fine defaulters; people who have served less than 15 days; people awaiting deportation; and children.²⁸

Many people in prison are released with debts which have built up during their sentence—adding to the problems they face on release. Inspectors found that in almost two-thirds (65%) of cases people didn’t receive sufficient support to address their finance, benefits and debt needs before their release.²⁹

Prisoners can receive help prepare a Universal Credit claim, but cannot submit one until they have been released from prison,³⁰ and must usually wait around five weeks for the first payment.³¹

Accommodation

Just two in five people (41%) released from prison in 2024–25 had settled accommodation on release, and almost one in seven (15%) were homeless or sleeping rough.³²

Obtaining and retaining settled accommodation is a key factor in successful rehabilitation according to probation inspectors. They found that around one-third of people released to settled accommodation ended up back in custody, compared to around two-thirds of people without it.³³

There were 10,020 placements in the HMPPS Community Accommodation Service (CAS) in 2024–25—a 46% increase on the previous year. CAS provides up to 12 weeks of transitional accommodation after leaving prison.³⁴

However, less than a third of people (30%) left their CAS placement for settled accommodation. A similar proportion (29%) were reimprisoned, 17% moved on to further transient accommodation, and 12% became homeless or began sleeping rough.³⁵

Employment

For many, having a criminal conviction is a barrier to leading a law-abiding life on release. The Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 gives people with spent convictions the legal right not to disclose them when applying for most jobs. The law was changed in 2022 to reduce how long some people need to disclose their conviction for.³⁶

The proportion of people in employment six weeks after leaving prison has risen to one in five (20%) —a seven percentage point increase on five years ago when records began.³⁷ Just over a third of people are in employment six months after release (35%)—a 21 percentage point rise on four years ago.³⁸

Electronic monitoring

The last eight years have seen an unprecedented expansion in the use of electronic monitoring devices, often known as ‘tags’. GPS location monitoring devices were introduced in 2018, which track a person’s movements 24 hours a day, known as ‘trail monitoring’. In 2020, tags were introduced for monitoring levels of alcohol in the blood via sweat. In 2021, the use of GPS devices was expanded to children.³⁹

As of December 2025, there were 3,620 people wearing a tag who were on licence following release from prison—more than two in five (43%) of all people fitted with a tag.⁴⁰

Family

Family and friends are a highly significant factor in enabling successful resettlement on release. But arrangements to help prisoners maintain and strengthen family ties were variable across prisons, and often not given sufficient priority or resources according to two independent government commissioned reviews by Lord Farmer⁴¹ and prisons inspectors.⁴²

HMPPS estimates that over half (53%) of those imprisoned between 2021 and 2022—around 74,275 people—were parents, with the figure potentially reaching 78%.⁴³

HMPPS estimates that 192,912 children had a parent in prison between 2021 and 2022.⁴⁴ An earlier independent study estimated that 320,000 children had a parent in prison in 2020.⁴⁵

Research suggests that the odds of reoffending are 39% lower for prisoners who receive family visits compared to those who do not receive visits.⁴⁶

One third of surveyed women (33%) and around two in five men (39%) reported that it was easy for family to visit them at their current prison. 35% of women and 36% of men said they had seen family or friends more than once in the last month. One in six men (16%) and just under a quarter of women (24%) had taken part in a video call.⁴⁷

One in 20 prisoners (5%) has no outside social contact at all, particularly people aged 60 and over (16%), people serving indefinite sentences (8%), people held in high security prisons (10%), and people convicted of criminal damage/arson (12%).⁴⁸

Previous section
Health in prison