First-time convicts at Feltham Young Offender Institution will get their own jail wing, in a bid to separate them from career criminals.
The youths will be kept apart from other inmates in the hope it will stop them from re-offending when they are released.
The two-year trial is part of London Mayor Boris Johnson’s youth action plan, launched last November, and will see young offenders receive more support to discourage them from a life of crime.
A spokesman for the Mayor said: “The unique thing about Feltham is that we are actually going inside and doing skills training and education work and when they are released they are being followed up with the same people, helping them with housing and employment.”
The £2.7m scheme will be rolled out across the country if it is successful.
The Mayor’s action plan is aimed at tackling the long-term root causes of youth violence, in response to an increase in teenage murders in London.
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