Unlocked Graduates’ largest ever cohort completes Summer Institute

In July, we welcomed our largest ever cohort of future prison leaders to Leeds Trinity University’s Main Horsforth Campus for Summer Institute which marks the start of Unlocked Graduates’ award-winning, two-year leadership development programme.

Having completed their initial training, over 130 new prison officers are now starting their roles in prisons across England and Wales. Unlocked Graduates has now placed nearly 900 prison officers in 38 different prisons who are leading change and breaking cycles of reoffending.

Summer Institute is Unlocked’s bespoke residential training course which ensures participants are ready for day one in their prisons. During these five weeks, they developed the knowledge and practised the skills required for their new roles to ensure that they can have the greatest impact on the prisoners in their care in order to reduce reoffending.

“It has been fantastic to see the progress that our participants have made over the course of Summer Institute, and we are really excited to see the impact that they will have on the landings,” said Natasha Porter OBE, CEO and Founder of Unlocked Graduates. “This year was our most competitive ever, with a record number of recruits and 40 applicants per place. As a result, we are able reach even more prisoners and continue to drive system reform in prisons around the country.”

We are really excited to see the impact that they will have on the landings

During Summer Institute, our participants had the opportunity to hear from a range of experts and leaders within the criminal justice system. This included experienced prison officers and those with lived experience of the prison system who have highlighted the impact that excellent prison officers can have and the transformative relationships they can build with prisoners.

“Summer Institute is an intense five weeks, but our participants’ commitment to having real impact has been inspiring. It is hard work, but it is also incredibly rewarding – and fun as well, with a wide range of social events organised on campus,” said Laura Baynton, Programme Director at Unlocked Graduates. “I would like to thank our entire programme delivery team and all of our fantastic trainers, without whom Summer Institute would not be possible.”

Summer Institute also saw the start of our participants’ fully funded master’s degree in Applied Custodial Leadership which has been developed in partnership with Leeds Trinity University. Over their next two years on the Unlocked programme, participants will attend regular in-person lecture days to support them through the master’s. They will also continue to receive ongoing training, as well as support from our team of Mentoring Prison Officers.