Who We Are

Why Unlocked?

Unlocked Graduates exists to develop outstanding leaders to break cycles of reoffending. Currently, prison is not able to do this, and over 50% of prisoners released from short-term sentences reoffend within a year. Not only does this make our communities less safe, but it also has a significant human and social impact. And it’s expensive, costing the taxpayer over £23bn every year.

Find out more about the challenges facing prisons.

What do we do?

Prisons must give people the support they need to focus on rehabilitation in order to reduce reoffending. We believe the transformative relationships between prison officers and prisoners are key to this. Prison officers are the agents of change within prisons, and they are the only professionals able to reach all prisoners, including the most vulnerable.

Since 2016, we have sought to lead this change by inspiring, recruiting and training ambitious graduates to become outstanding prison officers and high-performing leaders to break cycles of reoffending in prisons and throughout society.

Unlocked’s unique training and support model gives our participants the skills and expertise they need to be excellent prison officers, lead rehabilitative change and drive improvements across the system. Our curriculum has been developed by our expert trainers who take an evidence-led approach, applying the most effective teaching and learning methods.

We have put the prison officer role on the map as a career where ambitious graduates can develop extraordinary leadership skills whilst making a real difference to people’s lives. We have raised the status of the role, and our graduate programme features in the Times Top 100 Graduate Employers list. We are recognised in the UK and internationally for the impact our participants are having.