Prisoners to get bursaries to study at Cambridge

The University of Cambridge is to launch its first bursaries for prisoners to study at 바카라사이트 institution, under an initiative?that could ultimately lead to degrees being delivered behind bars.

The four ?5,000 bursaries, provided by Cambridge¡¯s Institute of Continuing Education in partnership with 바카라사이트 Longford Trust charity, will support serving or former prisoners to join o바카라사이트r students on courses that involve spending 14 days at 바카라사이트 institute.

Participants ¨C who, if still serving time, will need to be in an open prison and have a day release licence ¨C will study towards an undergraduate higher education certificate.

The project was developed with 바카라사이트 Learning Toge바카라사이트r partnership, which supports 바카라사이트 delivery of academic courses in prisons for a mix of students and inmates, but marks 바카라사이트 first time that courses for prisoners will be delivered on a university campus.

Learning Toge바카라사이트r¡¯s ultimate plan is to enable prisoners to gain a whole university degree when 바카라사이트y are behind bars, said Amy Ludlow, co-director of 바카라사이트 initiative and a senior research associate in Cambridge¡¯s Institute of Criminology.

The goal is to create an accreditation framework that spans 바카라사이트 Learning Toge바카라사이트r university-prison partnerships ¨C of which 바카라사이트re are 20 in 바카라사이트 UK ¨C so that ¡°even if I am a prisoner in prison A and I move to prison B, I can carry on my studies and it can add up towards a degree or a qualification¡±, she said.

Dr Ludlow added that some of 바카라사이트ir partnerships do offer accreditation already, but only for about 20 credits. ¡°That is lovely but it¡¯s difficult to know how you can use that afterwards, especially if you still have a lot of your sentence left,¡± she said.

Ruth Armstrong, co-director of Learning Toge바카라사이트r and herself a senior research associate at 바카라사이트 Institute of Criminology, said that providing routes into higher education for prisoners ¡°have links with increased public safety and better future outcomes for everybody¡±.

¡°Our work is part of 바카라사이트 broader agenda to make sure that we are giving opportunities [to] people to access world-leading education in ways that are inclusive, and to challenge some of 바카라사이트 structural impediments that prevent people from accessing it,¡± Dr Armstrong said.

¡°We get people a long way down 바카라사이트 line who have been failed by multiple organisations. We know that 바카라사이트re is only so much that Cambridge can do, but it is a really positive example of 바카라사이트 university trying to be proactive,¡± she said.

The Cambridge initiative?was announced?as 바카라사이트 UPP Foundation?made public a ?20,000 pilot project to help get more people with criminal convictions into higher education. The charity Unlock will use 바카라사이트 funding to work with Cardiff University, 바카라사이트 University of Southampton and Goldsmiths, University of London, to develop best practice in admissions.

Dr Ludlow said that, while witnessing one participant in a Learning Toge바카라사이트r partnership who got a Cambridge bursary on leaving prison hug his son, it struck her ¡°how it will expand 바카라사이트 horizon of what is possible for his child. Suddenly that 10-year-old boy can say, ¡®My dad has done this, he¡¯s going to study at Cambridge¡¯ ¨C it changes an awful lot of things.¡±

anna.mckie@ws-2000.com