Recipient of the 2017 inaugural King’s Service Award, Philosophy in Prisons is a student led initiative run with the support of the King’s Philosophy Department to provide a philosophy course at Belmarsh Prison.

In 2016, the King’s Department of Philosophy piloted an eight-week philosophy course for prisoners at HMP Belmarsh in southeast London.

Participation on the course was voluntary and averaged at 90 per cent with a zero per cent dropout rate. The course was designed to be accessible to participants with a broad range of educational backgrounds.

Whilst 40 per cent of the cohort had undertaken some form of higher education, 30 per cent had either finished formal education at school or had no formal qualifications whatsoever.

Since then, three further courses have been delivered with the support of the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, The Evan Cornish Foundation, and The Philosophy Foundation. A course has also been developed specifically for learners with English as a Second Language. The University is currently considering how to continue, evaluate, and expand the project for the future.

Find out more 

Mike Coxhead michael.coxhead@kcl.ac.uk