Supporting law Students in Secure Environments (SISE) - identifying enablers of, and barriers to, study

This SCiLAB funded project, conducted by senior lecturer in law, Kate Ritchie, and former lecturer in law, Siobhan Cullen, aimed to gain insight into the study experiences of students in secure environments (SISE) studying law with the OU. In particular, the objective was to explore the enablers of, and barriers to, their study. These insights were gathered from interviews carried out by the project team with Associate Lecturers (ALs) who tutor SISE.

The evaluation, conducted in 2024, revealed that the provision of education for SISE studying law appears to work well in many respects, with a number of supportive structures and systems in place to enable effective study. All of the ALs interviewed spoke very positively about their experiences working with SISE, describing them as motivated, enthused and bright students who “often did exceptionally well”. The research recommended that these experiences could be more widely publicised (for example at OU staff engagement days or faculty assemblies) to increase awareness of the value and rewards of tutoring SISE. 

It was noted that there was scope for improvement to OU systems to overcome certain barriers, including module teams ensuring that printed packs contain clear referencing information, and that ALs who tutor SISE are made aware of the support structures in place. It was also observed by ALs that a shift from face-to-face tutorials to phone tutorials made it harder to build relationships with the SISE and to understand fully where SISE had got to in their study.

However, it was the prison context itself that the project team found was the greatest barrier to effective study by SISE, especially the disruption caused by unanticipated movement of SISE, lack of support with digital literacy and inconsistent access to digital technology. 

The project team have disseminated their findings both within the OU and at the Socio-Legal Scholars Association Conference in April 2025. They have also produced a report, two blog posts and an article (due for publication in the Prison Service Journal in 2026). The plan is to build on this exploratory research by drawing on the perspectives of a broader range of stakeholders, notably education managers working within prisons and prisoners themselves, in order to contribute to pedagogical theory on prison education, which is, to date, under-developed.

Outputs

Conferences

• Ritchie, K and Cullen, S (2025) ‘The State of Legal Education in our Prisons and Why Students in Secure Environments (SISE) Should Matter’ Socio Legal Scholars Annual Conference April 2025

Other

• Ritchie, K (2025) ‘Educating Prisoners: The Importance of Relationships!’ https://www5.open.ac.uk/scholarship-and-innovation/scilab/blog/educating-prisoners-importance-relationships
• Cullen, S (2025) ‘Prison learners never just another brick in the prison wall’  Prison learners never just another brick in the prison wall | Open Justice
• Ritchie, K and Cullen, S (2024) ‘Supporting law Students in Secure Environments (SISE)- identifying enablers of, and barriers to, study’, Scholarship Exchange August 2024,  https://www.scholarship-exchange.open.ac.uk/projects/Supporting_law_Students_in_Secure_Environments_SISE_-_identifying_enablers_of_and_barriers_to_study/219070

Meet the team

      Kate Ritchie 

Kate is a senior lecturer in law with the Open University’s Law School. She has been involved in a number of prison-based workshop projects with the Open Justice Centre and is interested in contributing to the development of pedagogical theory underpinning prison education. As well as understanding the enablers of, and barriers to, effective legal education for students in secure environments (SISE), her scholarship projects focus on the broader theme of ‘belonging’. She has, for example, researched how online platforms, such as WhatsApp, can facilitate peer mentoring and foster the development of communities of support. She is also interested in investigating the scope for game-based learning to facilitate the development of online communities.

      Siobhan Cullen 

Siobhan is an EDI Consultant who previously lectured law with the OU and was involved with the Open Justice Centre and led the Athena Swan project 2022-2024. Siobhan’s work with the Equality Commission NI, the Mental Health Commission and International Protection Tribunals, reflects her key interest in fair and transparent processes to ensure equity and inclusivity. She has a particular interest in widening inclusivity in education and believes that promoting effective legal education for students in secure environments is a crucial aspect of same. Siobhan has been widely involved in Street Law projects, a form of public legal education delivered in schools and community organisations, to build knowledge in relation to the law.