About us - MK College

About Our Prison Services

What do we do?

At Milton Keynes College, we provide education programs in 30 prisons across England under the PEF Contract in the South Central region, Kent, Surrey and Sussex and across all of the Long Term High Security Estate.

Fosse way

At MK College, we partnered with HMP Fosse Way to create a new prison near Leicester in the Glen Parva area. Inside the prison, we set up an education team with tutors covering a wide array of subjects, from digital skills to construction, with a focus on essential skills like Math and English.

Prison education makes a profound difference within the prison service to the outcomes and rehabilitation of prisoners and, ultimately, society.

Whether you’ve worked in prisons before or not – we have various roles available. Click here to explore our current vacancies.

Fosse way prison

Our Locations

South Central
HMPYOI Aylesbury, HMP Bullingdon, HMP Erlestoke, HMP Grendon, HMP Huntercombe, HMP Springhill, HMP Winchester

Long Term High Security North
HMP Frankland, HMP Full Sutton, HMP Garth, HMP Gartree, HMP Manchester, HMP Wakefield, HMP Whitemoor

Long Term High Security South
HMP Belmarsh, HMP Isle of Wight, HMP Long Lartin, HMP Swaleside, HMP Woodhill

Kent, Surry & Sussex
HMP Coldingley, HMP Down View, HMP Elmley, HMPYOI East Sutton Park, HMP Ford, HMP Lewes, HMP Maidstone, HMP Rochester, HMP Send, HMP Stanford Hill

Meet the Team

Maxine Bennett

Lead Director, Prison Services

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Maxine Bennett, Innovation & Development Director Following some 20 years working in Apprenticeship programmes specialising in Logistics, Maxine moved into Offender Learning in 2006, first working as Education Manager at HMP Bullingdon and then moving on to work as a Regional Manager in the Eastern and East Midlands regions. In her role of Innovation and Development Director, Maxine works with her team in a range of projects. These include installing and maintaining IT Services in the prisons, managing Health & Safety, and working with our Employment Academies where ex-offenders are offered sustainable employment. Maxine is a qualified teacher, holds an MSc in Human Resource Development and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. 

Phil Harris

Lot Director, LTHSE North

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Phil has worked in Further Education for over 25 years, starting his career lecturing in professional construction then progressing to management and senior leadership roles. He has previously been involved in setting up offender learning opportunities in Birmingham and joined MK College in 2016, taking on the management of the East Midlands OLASS provision. Under the new PEF contract, Phil is responsible for all our Long Term High Security Estate sites in the North. Phil is passionate about education making a difference and transforming lives for everyone, resulting in the reduction of reoffending and a brighter future for offenders, their families and the wider community. 

Lisa Brown

Lot Director, South Central

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Lisa joined MK College in 1993 as the administrator for the Education Department at HMP Woodhill. Lisa soon decided to develop her career and moved into teaching, which became the catalyst for a long career in offender learning. After qualifying as a teacher in 2004 she progressed to Deputy Education Manager and then in 2008 became Education Manager. In 2010, Lisa joined the MK College regional team, managing prisons in the East of England and then became Deputy Director responsibility for the OLASS contract in the West Midlands. Under the new PEF contract, Lisa is now responsible for all prisons in the South Central region. Over the years Lisa has witnessed many learners reach a potential they never thought possible and it is this and the fact that every day is different that motivates and inspires Lisa in her work.

Mark Fisher

Lot Director, LTHSE South

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Mark is currently the Implementation Director, overseeing the introduction of our 10 new prisons based in Kent, Surrey and Sussex. He started his career in Hotel Management after studying Hospitality at his local FE College. After working as an industry trainer for hospitality, he switched across to the world of FE and has focused on several areas, including Business Admin, Retail, Hospitality, Teacher Education, Schools Partnerships, and Community Projects. He developed his skills by managing education in a Hospital School, Young People’s Homeless Centre, and a provision for excluded school children.

Following this, he moved into the management of Prison Education and has managed the provision in over 50 prisons across the country covering all types of prison, including young people, Young Offenders, Adult Male (Cat A, B, C, D and Therapeutic), Women, Foreign National, Private and Immigration Removal. He started to work for us at Milton Keynes College in 2015 and has been an integral part of the prison leadership team ever since.

Contact Us

To contact prison services , please call the switchboard on 01908 684444.

To speak to our recruitment team about a vacancy contact recruitment@mkcollege.ac.uk.

If you’re interested in providing work opportunities for our learners, please contact info@mkcollege.ac.uk

What’s On