We’re working with vocational education body City and Guilds, His Majesty’s Prison (HMP) Highpoint and other rail industry partners to run a rail skills learning and training programme.
It’s helping give ex-offenders a second chance on their release, offering them meaningful employment in the industry and helping rehabilitate them into society.
Rail Engineering Centre of Excellence
We’re one of Britain’s biggest employers committed to helping move people and goods across the country on our railway. That’s why we’ve come together with City and Guilds and other rail industry partners to begin a training and employment programme that helps plug this skills gap and provide social good.
The Rail Engineering Centre of Excellence programme has been running since August 2022. It offers prisoners a guaranteed job after their release on successfully completing the course.
The programme runs from HMP Highpoint near Haverhill, Suffolk but prisoners are recruited from eight other prisons across Britain who are transferred there to take part.
How it works
Employers interview prisoners while in prison and applicants for the programme are carefully assessed before being offered a place. The individual’s criminal and personal history is risk assessed to confirm suitability for the employer and the prisoner. Applicants given a place are guaranteed a job on release providing they successfully complete the course.
The programme teaches prisoners how to maintain parts of our railway, particular focusing on the skills needed for maintaining track, signals and overhead line equipment. The overhead line equipment training facility at Highpoint is the first of its kind. These rail facilities help upskill prisoners by replicating real-life working environments inside the prison.
Michael Simmons, a senior engineer at Network Rail, said: “Being a part of the prison rehabilitation programme at HMP Highpoint has been incredibly rewarding, offering a real sense of purpose and the chance to make a meaningful difference in people’s lives. The programme not only benefits the individuals but offers tangible benefits to our railway and society on the whole.”
Changing lives
Ryan Hull, an ex-prisoner at HMP Highpoint, took part in the programme and began a role on track on his release. He thrived and quickly progressed to a management role within six months.
Ryan said: “It completely took my life the right way up … It’s so life changing.”
The initiative supports our railway and plays a crucial role in reducing reoffending, which currently costs the country £18.1bn every year. The social value of this programme delivers around £9 of social benefits for every £1 put in.
Alex Pond, executive director of City and Guilds Training, said: “We have an oversubscribed prison community willing to work. An untapped talent of individuals with key transferrable skills.
“Eighty percent of offending is reoffending, which is a significant cost to society and impact on victims. As a country we need to ensure that each prison offers different types of training.
“The lack of opportunity for some of these prisoners is concerning. If you can change someone’s life in here, the social impact is huge but we need employer support to do it together.”
A promising future
The programme has delivered 13 rail track operative courses that over 135 learners have successfully completed to date. From those released, 82% were employed within six weeks after their release and 88% after six months.
We now hope to work with City and Guilds to roll out the programme wider across the country. This programme has already changed hundreds of people’s lives and we hope it continues doing so. We’re an inclusive employer, passionate about creating social reform and opportunities for people from all walks of life.
