The construction of the UK's first secure school, hailed as a 'revolutionary custodial facility' for young people - is under way.

The Ministry of Justice says the educational prison, based on the site of the now closed Medway Secure Training Centre in Rochester, will see young offenders go 'straight from the courtroom to the classroom', with every single pupil enrolled in formal education or training and encouraged into further learning or employment on release.

The site will be run by education provider Oasis Restore rather than the Prison Service, and The MoJ says it will be "laid out like a school inside the prison walls".

Staff will be trained to offer a broad curriculum and one-to-one learning support, setting challenging targets in core subjects such as English and maths. Ofsted inspectors will hold the establishment to the same standards as all other schools nationwide, in an effort to ensure education is of the best possible standard.

There will also be a weekly programme of rigorous physical education, with the opportunity to undertake sports and leisure qualifications.

Since 2012 the number of children in custody has fallen from around 2,000 in 2012 to around 500, but young offenders are around 50% more likely to reoffend than adult offenders.

Though reoffending rates for children who received custodial or community sentences have fallen from 38% in 2012 to 34% in 2022 they stubbornly remain nearly nine percentage points higher than adult reoffending.

They are also much more likely to have had a disrupted education, with 60% not engaged in education before entering custody due to truancy, suspension, or expulsion.

Around eight in 10 prolific adult offenders begin committing crimes as children, with the estimated cost to the taxpayer around £17 billion per year.

Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Justice, Dominic Raab MP, said: “This secure school is a first. It’s effectively a school with prison walls around it that will give the stubborn hard core of young offenders, who need to be in custody, the tailored curriculum and mental health support they need to turn away from crime and get into training and work.”

“It’s the right thing to do for them and the public, driving down reoffending, and making our streets safer.”

The design of the new school is based on research which shows that smaller settings, high-quality education and healthcare provision, and a specialised workforce of teachers and youth workers are vital to successfully rehabilitating young offenders.

The old prison-style features at Medway have been stripped out and the MoJ say the finished site will look like a residential school rather than a custodial facility, within secure prison walls.

It will house 49 children when full, and will include "state-of-the-art, bar-less windows" as well as the latest secure in-room technology to allow children to continue homework, organise routines and contact families in a safe and secure way, from their rooms.

Construction work will continue until autumn 2023 when the site will be handed over to the specialist education provider and operator Oasis Restore, with the first pupils expected to arrive in 2024.

The Rev Steve Chalke MBE, Founder of Oasis, said: “For too long society has bought into the idea that punishing young people will somehow benefit them. All the research shows this does not work. You can’t help a child by harming them. You can’t take children who have been wounded psychologically and somehow hope that punishment will heal them. Then, when you release them, wonder why so many reoffend.

“Oasis is not trying to ignore a young person’s crime, or to minimise the pain of their victim and family. But, it’s time for a revolution in youth justice. And, we’re excited that Oasis Restore – the country’s first secure school – with an emphasis on therapeutic care, education and positive settlement into life beyond our gates, which enables them to thrive – will be that revolution.”

The school’s core focus on getting troubled young people into jobs or further education is part of an effort to drive down reoffending, following a five per cent fall over the last decade.