What Is HMP Featherstone Like?
Last reviewed: July 2026
Key facts about HMP Featherstone
| Detail | HMP Featherstone |
|---|---|
| Category | Category C training and resettlement (adult men) |
| Run by | HM Prison and Probation Service (public sector) |
| Population | Around 690, across 7 house units |
| Opened | November 1976 |
| Address | New Road, Featherstone, Wolverhampton WV10 7PU |
| Switchboard | 01902 703 000 (24 hours) |
| Visit booking | Online via GOV.UK, or 0300 060 6502 (Mon–Fri, 10am–3pm) |
What kind of prison is Featherstone?
Featherstone opened in 1976 as a long-term Category C trainer and has been a designated training and resettlement prison since 2014. In practice that means most men arriving here have already been through a local prison and are now expected to spend their days working, studying or completing courses that should help them find a job on release. Accommodation is a mix of single and shared cells across seven house units, and inspectors have long noted that parts of the site are showing their age.
What did the latest inspection find?
HM Inspectorate of Prisons carried out a full inspection in September and October 2025 and was disappointed: outcomes had slipped across all four of its healthy prison tests, with safety falling from “reasonably good” in 2022 to “not sufficiently good”. The encouraging news came in an Independent Review of Progress conducted in June 2026, which found good progress on four of ten concerns, including safeguarding, social care, public protection and complaints. Self-harm had fallen by 54% and assaults on staff by 61%. Two stubborn problems remain: drugs (around 23% of random tests were positive) and tired, decrepit accommodation, which the Chief Inspector said will not improve without significant investment. You can read the reports on the HMIP website.
Daily life, work and education
Education is delivered by Novus and runs from basic maths and English up to Level 2, alongside IT qualifications and Open University access for those on longer sentences. The vocational offer is one of Featherstone’s strengths: there is a specialist rail-track engineering programme, motor vehicle maintenance and tyre-fitting qualifications, bricklaying, painting and decorating, hospitality and industrial cleaning, plus industries, construction, textiles and print workshops. A welding qualification and advanced manufacturing machinery were added recently. Men who engage well with work and training here can leave with qualifications that genuinely open doors, particularly in rail and construction.
Visiting HMP Featherstone
Book visits online through the GOV.UK prison visits service or by phone on 0300 060 6502, between 2 and 14 days ahead. Sessions run Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 2pm to 4pm, Saturday from 9:30am to 11:30am and 2pm to 4pm, and Sunday from 2pm to 4pm. The visitors’ centre is run by the charity PACT and is a good first stop if you are anxious about your first visit. Bring accepted photo ID, arrive early for searches, and check the dress code before you travel. Our guides on contacting someone in prison and release dates cover the practicalities families ask about most.
Prison Guide’s founder Daniel Hockey served a sentence himself, moving from HMP Wandsworth through to open conditions at HMP Ford, and wrote about it in The Secret Prisoner (2021). His experience of Category C regimes shapes our practical advice: arrive at a trainer like Featherstone ready to sign up for work or education in your first week, because the men who settle quickest are the ones with a routine. Read more about Daniel here.
Frequently asked questions
What category is HMP Featherstone?
Category C — a closed training and resettlement prison for adult men. It is not a high-security jail, but it is not open conditions either.
Is Featherstone a safe prison?
Inspectors rated safety “not sufficiently good” in late 2025, but by mid-2026 self-harm and assaults had fallen substantially. Like most Category C prisons it still has a drugs problem the jail is working to grip.
How do I book a visit?
Online at GOV.UK or on 0300 060 6502 (Monday to Friday, 10am to 3pm), between 2 and 14 days before the visit.
Where do prisoners go after Featherstone?
Many men progress to Category D open conditions or are released directly into the community, depending on sentence plan and risk. See our full list of UK prisons for other establishments.
Official sources: GOV.UK – Featherstone Prison · HM Inspectorate of Prisons · Prison Reform Trust
