Isle of Wight it hosting three prisons: Albany, Camp Hill and Parkhurst, all located outside Newport near the main road to Cowes. Albany and Parkhurst were among the few Category A prisons in the UK until they were downgraded in the 1990s. The downgrading of Parkhurst was precipitated by a major escape: three prisoners (two murderers and a blackmailer) escaped from the prison on 3 January 1995 for four days, before being recaptured. Parkhurst enjoyed notoriety as one of the toughest jails in the United Kingdom, and housed many notable inmates including the Yorkshire Ripper Peter Sutcliffe, New Zealand drug lord Terry Clark
Education reforms on the Isle of Wight urgency at the start of 2008, when three 'key options' were put forward by the Isle of Wight Council for public consultation, each of which meant the closure of at least half of the Island's primary schools. On 14 January 2008, the Council announced that at least 23 primary schools and one middle school (expected to be Nodehill Middle School) would be closed, whichever education pathway was chosen in March. The 'biggest protest the Island has ever seen' occurred outside County Hall in Newport on 26 January 2008 at 10:00am lasting an hour until 11:00am, led by Isle of Wight