The Isle of Man Prison has received a 100% pass rate for GCSE exams taken by inmates.

University College IoM offer an education service at the prison, with currently 55% of the prison population participating in some form of education offered by the College.

Results were released in January for GCSE exams that were taken in October 2020. There are two GCSE sittings in a year during October and June.

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.

Minister for Education, Sport and Culture, Dr Alex Allinson 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.

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.’