The absence of a national education strategy for long and short-term prisoners is hindering efforts to reduce re-offending, Ofsted said.
Inspectors found a lack of clarity in prisons and no national guidelines on what courses were suitable for prisoners serving various terms.
Prisons dealt better with offenders on short sentences, but none of those inspected had a strategy for those serving long sentences, and few were able to progress beyond level 2 (GCSE equivalent).
