Self-study opportunities

Prisoners may apply to study a range of courses by distance education. This can include university degrees.

The department has a guide which assists prisoners with the application process and sets out the prisoner’s responsibilities and requirements. The learner will also require additional support from prison staff.

Computer resources may be available but online access to resources or internet materials are not available at any of the prisons.

There are a number of reasons an application to study via distance education may not be approved.

These include:

  • the resources are not available at the prison to support the student
  • the requested resources are allocated to support other students at this point in time
  • the chosen field of study is at odds with the offense, for example a prisoner who committed fraud is unlikely to be allowed to study accounting.