To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of people who had been in young offender institutions for (a) less than and (b) more than two years were entered for GCSEs in each of the last five years. (224928)

The Department does not collect data on GCSE enrolments by young people in young offender institutions (YOIs) broken down by length of stay in custody. However, the roll-out of the Offender Learning and Skills Service (OLASS) through the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) from 31 July 2006, means that some data on young offender enrolment within YOIs is now collected. Data are only available for 2006/07, during which 95 young people were enrolled on one or more GCSE course.

However, many young people in custody are still enrolled at learning providers in the community and therefore their enrolments are not included in the figure provided. Also, many young people stay in custody only for a very short time, and therefore it is not always realistic for them to enrol on and achieve long-term qualifications (e.g. GCSEs), in custody. Therefore, the LSC figure quoted in this answer does not provide records of all of the enrolments of all young people in YOIs. Data are not available for GCSE achievements for young people in Secure Children’s Homes, Secure Training Centres, or privately run YOIs.