Learning in the justice sector – Adroddiad Blynyddol | Annual Report
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Learning in the justice sector

Early Insights 2025-2026

Learning and teaching

Nearly all staff develop respectful working relationships with learners which leads to positive learner engagement. In the majority of sessions, teaching meets the needs of learners and many learners make sound progress. However, variability in the quality of teaching in a minority of sessions, together with curriculum provision that is not sufficiently vocationally focused, limits learners’ progress and future opportunities.

What’s going well

  • Nearly all staff develop respectful working relationships with learners, supporting positive engagement.
  • In the majority of sessions, learners make sound progress in developing their knowledge, skills and understanding.
  • In the most effective lessons, teachers use a suitable range of learning activities that engage learners well and sustain their interest.
  • In two of the three providers, learning support assistants and learning mentors provide valuable support for learners and help them participate successfully in education.

What needs to improve

  • In a minority of sessions, the quality of teaching is too variable, and does not consistently challenge all learners.
  • In one provider, while teachers generally track learners’ completion of activities, they do not monitor progress in learning well enough.
  • In two of the three providers, the curriculum and accreditation offer do not consistently meet the needs of all learners, with too few vocational learning opportunities.

Well-being, care, support and guidance

Providers create supportive and inclusive environments where nearly all learners attend regularly and benefit from effective pastoral support. In one provider, regime curtailments continue to negatively impact attendance at education.

What’s going well

  • Across all three providers, leaders have introduced improved systems to monitor attendance and address unauthorised absence. As a result, many learners attend education regularly and maintain high attendance rates.
  • In two of the three providers strong multidisciplinary working ensures that learners benefit from coordinated well-being support from a range of professionals.
  • Staff apply clear and consistent behaviour management systems that promote positive learning behaviours and as a result nearly all learners behave positively in lessons and engage respectfully with staff and their peers.
  • In two of the three providers, health and well-being programmes support learners appropriately to develop personal and social skills. They develop important knowledge about making positive choices and staying safe.

What needs to improve

  • In one provider, learners lose valuable learning time due to classroom closures, staffing shortages and restrictions to the daily routine.
  • In one provider, opportunities for learners to develop their understanding of equality, diversity and inclusion are underdeveloped.

Leading and improving

Across all three providers, leaders demonstrated clear strategic vision, effective partnership working and increasingly robust self-evaluation. However, in one provider, self-evaluation arrangements were still developing and did not consistently assess learners’ progress.

What’s going well

  • In all three providers, leaders’ strengthened partnership working arrangements are contributing to improvements in learners’ experiences.
  • Self-evaluation processes have improved and are beginning to support more effective identification of strengths and areas for improvement.
  • Leaders and staff benefit from valuable support from the partner college or school.
  • Leaders gather and use learner and staff feedback appropriately to inform improvement planning.

What needs to improve

  • Lesson observations do not always evaluate the impact of teaching on learners’ progress well enough.
  • In one provider, learner voice arrangements are still developing.

Overview of recommendations from inspections

We left recommendations at the two core inspections we completed. In our one independent review of progress, we found that leaders had made reasonable progress towards two concerns, and insufficient progress against two concerns.

The recommendations left were in relating to inspection areas one and three, including:

  • strengthening assessment to inform teaching.
  • strengthening the vocational curriculum.
  • strengthening self-evaluation and improvement planning.
  • strengthening the professional learning offer to consider learners’ specific learning needs.

Effective practice identified during inspection

Hillside Secure Children’s Home

At Hillside Secure Children’s Home, teachers use practical learning experiences effectively to engage learners and develop their skills. Learners benefit from a wide range of specialist facilities, have high expectations of themselves and can explain how they might improve. The increasing quality of what they produce demonstrates clear progress in their practical skills.

Hillside Secure Children’s Home

At Hillside Secure Children’s Home, strong partnership working between education, residential, clinical and partner school staff supports improvements in provision and learner outcomes. Effective daily communication helps staff provide consistent support, adapt learning and keep learners safe and engaged.

HMYOI Parc

Read how leaders at HMYOI Parc worked effectively with operational staff to develop a reading strategy which supported learners to develop their interest in reading as well as their skill level.

HMYOI Parc

At HMYOI Parc, rewards schemes for positive engagement and behaviour in both the residential units and education were effective in motivating children.