OneAdvanced wins MoJ contract to improve prisoner skills in England

OneAdvanced has been awarded a 4-year contract worth £1.2m from the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) for its cloud-based Assessment & Learning solution (previously known as bksb). The solution will be deployed across 104 adult prisons in England to improve offenders’ functional maths, English and digital skills – with the aim of improving employability opportunities upon release.

The contract is part of a wider transformation effort at the MoJ, designed to enhance education delivery as part of its Prisoner Education Service (launched in September 2023).

OneAdvanced announced the successful completion of a £1.2bn refinancing deal earlier this month (see OneAdvanced completes £1.2bn refinancing). In our coverage, we noted that – as well as moving away from a product-led approach to a more sector-focused one – the company was also taking a considered approach to embedding AI in its offerings (it launched a sovereign AI service in April, for instance – see OneAdvanced launches sovereign AI service; and its Assessment & Learning solution uses AI and Machine Learning in its assessment functions). The MoJ is looking to these AI-powered assessment and screening capabilities to help it improve the accuracy and consistency of prisoners’ educational evaluations (assisting staff and offenders themselves in identifying the appropriate pathways of education, skills training, and work activities).

Posted by: Craig Wentworth at 10:28

Tags: education   skills   assessment   prisoners