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Strong focus on reading in jail can transform the experience of prisoners

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A new report from HM Inspectorate of Prisons highlights the importance of reading in prison. It reveals how some jails have created vibrant reading cultures that are helping to transform prisoners’ experience and support their rehabilitation.

Inspectors visited nine prisons where governors had focused on reading, and found that leaders were central to an effective strategy, with the best playing a vital role in establishing and sustaining a strong reading culture. They understood that prisoners with low literacy levels were much more likely to struggle in jail and less likely to succeed after prison. Visibly championing reading, they made it a core part of the regime, with well-used, active libraries encouraging participation, and prisoners benefitting from interventions that placed reading at the heart of their rehabilitation.

The report follows reviews in 2022 and 2023 which identified serious deficiencies in the teaching of reading across the prison estate. Depressingly, they found that prisoners with the most need received the least support, education providers were doing little to address low achievement, library opening hours had not recovered since the pandemic and few jails had any sort of prison-wide strategy to promote reading for every prisoner. However, the 2025 visits revealed that some prisons had made huge strides in addressing these problems and that it was possible, even in the most challenging places, to transform the reading offer for prisoners and promote it as an essential component of rehabilitation.  

This report highlights some very positive findings from jails in which committed governors and other leaders had worked together to create a strong reading culture in the prison. Yet we continue to find that reading has not been prioritised with nearly enough commitment in too many prisons. I urge governors and the prison service to use the findings from this report to learn from the best jails and improve provision for those in their care, so that they can create more stable prisons which reduce the risk of future reoffending.
Chief Inspector of Prisons, Charlie Taylor

Notes to editors

  1. Read the ‘Reading for rehabilitation’ report, published on 13 January 2026.
  2. HM Inspectorate of Prisons is an independent inspectorate, inspecting places of detention to report on conditions and treatment and promote positive outcomes for those detained and the public.
  3. The fieldwork for this thematic took place between May 2025 and August 2025. Establishments were selected to meet the following criteria: a range of functional types, for example high secure, reception and open prisons, as well as training prisons and establishments holding women; private and public sector establishments; geographical location, ensuring a spread of prisons across England and Wales. The establishments were: Rye Hill, Ranby, Swansea, Lindholme, Hatfield, Low Newton, Frankland, Chelmsford, Send.
  4. An analysis of 5,804 survey responses from inspections of prisons published during the annual report period from 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 was also conducted.
  5. At each establishment the following was conducted: a review of the prison’s reading strategy and other key documents; consultation with key staff involved in delivery of the prison’s reading strategy; consultation with prisoners identified as being among the prison’s 10 lowest level readers.
  6. Please email media@hmiprisons.gov.uk if you would like more information.