Your introduction to the open prison estate

Open prisons are designed to help bridge the gap between life in prison and life in the community. It can help you to adjust to what life can be like after the custodial part of your sentence comes to an end. 

There are 15 open prisons in England and Wales, two women’s prisons and 13 men’s prisons.

Being in an open prison may not have as many similarities to your experience in a closed prison as you may expect. 

You can make more decisions about how you spend your time

There are still expectations and rules that you need to follow in an open prison. But one big difference in an open prison is that you have the keys to your cell, and you do not need a prison officer to open your door for you. You can go to the prison’s gym or the library without being escorted. You can also wear your own clothes.

You may find that the regime in an open prison is more relaxed too, and you can spend your time exploring the grounds or attending activities on-site. Having more control of your time is one way to help you to prepare for life after you leave prison.

It can be a big adjustment to start making decisions about how to spend your time, especially if you have been in closed conditions for a while. So, when you arrive in an open prison, you will receive an induction to help you settle into your new environment. 

You can get a job in the prison or in the community

If you have a job in your prison that you enjoy, you may be worried about what jobs you can do in other prisons throughout your time in custody.

Each open prison has its own range of jobs that people can do, for example in the kitchen, or outdoor jobs such as gardening and growing vegetables. Some of our open prisons have working farms, and some have farm shops and cafes you can also work in.

There are also lots of warehouse jobs across our open prison estate. Some of them are run by private employers in partnership with the prison, while other workshops are run by the prison’s internal industries team. Some prisoners can also be employed as prison drivers, and drive people to work in their local town. 

You can also continue your education while you are in an open prison. Every prison has an education department teaching English and Maths, as well as vocational workshops. You can learn various skills to help you find a job on release, such as forklift driving, bricklaying, and decorating. 

You may also be eligible for Release on Temporary Licence, or ROTL. When you have been approved for ROTL, you can attend further education or work outside of prison and see family members at home during the day. You can also have a ROTL that allows overnight stays. Family visits are still available in open prisons, so you don’t need to only use ROTL to see your family.

You can apply for ROTL once you get to an open prison. Being approved for ROTL can take some time as risk assessments need to be carried out, but there will be activities and work you can do on-site while you wait for your application to be processed.

When you are approved for ROTL, you can get a job in the local community or go to college. Getting a job while you are in an open prison is a great way to find out what kind of work you may want to do in the future. Having a job will help you structure your time, earn money, and gain some work experience that will be helpful when you leave prison.

Transferring to an open prison

Moving to an open prison can be a big change, which can be overwhelming and hard to handle at times. But being in an open prison can be the right place for lots of people in prison as it gives you the chance to set yourself up for success for when you leave. 

A member of staff in the Offender Management Unit will be able to tell you if you are eligible to transfer to an open prison and explain the next steps.

If you are in a prison with the Launchpad laptops then you can find videos about individual open prisons in the Transfers – moving prison series, which can be found in the Sentence journey tab on the Content Hub. These videos are also running on Wayout TV, and your OMU may also be able to play them for you if you ask.