The Education Department is run in conjunction with The Manchester College.Prisoners are offered the courses in basic literacy, numeracy and information technology skills. Higher level courses are also available in:
- Information Technology; spreadsheets, word and text processing
- English and Mathematics
- Social and Life Skills: practical courses such as cookery
- Art and Music: developing creative skills
- Unit Based Education: various subjects upto A level standard
Day Release: Prisoners can attend education one day a week on day-release from within the prison if they are working towards a key skills certificate which helps to improve their future employability.
Work and Employment
Prisoners at HMP Altcourse participate in a 40 hour working week. There are 6 work areas, employing a total of 180 prisoners. These include a commercial laundry, furniture assembly, book recycling, engineering fabrication, prison bedding and curtain manufacturing, and recycling cardboard .