English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) screening and assessment Tool

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has a legal requirement to secure the provision of education and training for prisoners and recognises that Education, Skills, and Work (ESW) play a significant role in reducing reoffending. A 2017 MoJ report shows that prisoners who participated in any form of learning activity were 9 percentage points less likely to reoffend compared to non-learners and 1.8 percentage points more likely to be in employment after release. MoJ is committed to delivering a transformed 'Prisoner Education Service' (PES) focused on work-based training and skills'.

The Prisoner Education Service (PES) is developing an innovative, integrated digital ecosystem that brings together a holistic prisoner view that informs planning, delivery and accountability. Effective Screening and Assessment (S&A) is at the core of this, ensuring that prisoner's learner needs are identified when engaging with education, and inform their learner journey throughout their time in custody. This system should enable HMPPS to drive up standards and outcomes across the estate, both in custody and in the community.

To realise this vision, we are procuring digital S&A tools for the PES contracts.

This PIN is for an English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) screening tool only.

We are expecting to procure one tool; the tool can be part, fully or not yet developed. The expected contract length is up to 7 years.

The ESOL tool must accurately identify any gaps in a prisoner’s ability to read, write, speak and understand English, written and spoken language, in line with National Standards. The tool must also indicate the level of support required to enable progression.

ESOL assessments can include digital elements but should include interaction with and reading assessment outcomes determined by screening and assessment delivery staff.

The Tool must be compliant with Government Digital Standard (GDS) in the design, testing and deployment in a timeframe agreed with the Authority, supported by an Implementation Plan and must be capable of integrating with other services and sharing data using open standards.

The vision for the ESOL tool contract is to:

• Implement a high-quality, accessible tool that accurately identifies prisoners ESOL ability levels.
• Enable collaboration with the Authority and PES providers to ensure continuous improvement so that the tool enables quality ESOL S&A delivery.
• Enable data reporting integration of the ESOL tool into the Authority systems.
• Provide for the first time national consistent ESOL screening across the PES prison estate to reduce duplication and improve data flow across the estate.
• Deliver the ambition for digital by default screening with contingencies to allow continued S&A delivery when access to digital tool/s is impacted.
• Ensure high quality ESOL S&A tool provider led training and ongoing support to PES Core-Education staff on the use of provider screening tools.
• Drive quality via output measured key performance indicators.