Offender management statistics quarterly: July to September 2025

Question 1

1. Population

Accepted Answer

The prison population was 85,613 on 31 December 2025.

The sentenced prison population stood at 68,599 (80% of the total); the remand prison population stood at 16,628 (19%) and the non-criminal prison population stood at 386 (less than 0.5%).

Figure 1: Prison population, December 2015 to December 2025

Remand prison population

The 31 December 2025 remand population figure of 16,628 is slightly lower compared with December 2024 (a decrease of 2%). Whilst there have been some small variations over the years, overall, the remand population has been increasing annually since 2020.

The untried remand population and the convicted unsentenced remand population both fell by 2% when compared to the end of December 2024, to 10,930 and 5,698, respectively.

The two largest offence groups for those held on remand were ‘violence against the person’ (46% of the untried population and 30% of the convicted unsentenced population) and ‘drug offences’ (10% of the untried population and 16% of the convicted unsentenced population).

While white prisoners make up 73% of the sentenced population, they make up only 65% of the remand population. All other reported ethnic groups have the same, or greater, proportional representation in the remand population than they do in the sentenced population.

Sentenced prison population

The sentenced population was 68,599, an increase of 1% compared to December 2024. The population serving sentences of greater than 6 months to less than 12 months increased by 22% from the previous year. This may be related to the increase in Magistrates Sentencing Powers introduced in November 2024, which allow magistrates to hand down sentences of up to 12 months – with the associated increased flow from those in the remand population to those in the short-sentenced population.

Around 7 in 10 prisoners serving an immediate custodial sentence have been convicted of a violence against the person offence (34%), sexual offence (23%) or drug offence (13%).

Extended Determinate Sentences (EDS)

EDS constitute a custodial term, the majority of which is served in prison, followed by an additional extended period of licence in the community. They can be imposed if the offender is found guilty of, or has a previous conviction for, a specific sexual, violent, or terrorist offence. On 31 December 2025, 9,343 prisoners were serving such sentences, up 8% since 31 December 2024. EDS prisoners account for around 1 in 9 of the total prison population.

Indeterminate sentences

On 31 December 2025, there were 8,494 (8,133 male; 361 female) ‘unreleased’ prisoners serving indeterminate sentences (Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) and life sentences). This is virtually unchanged compared to 31 December 2024.

The number of ‘unreleased’ prisoners serving life sentences (7,570) has increased by 2% compared to one year ago whereas the number of ‘unreleased’ IPP prisoners fell by 12% to 924. At point of sentencing, offenders are given a minimum time period (“tariff”) that they must serve in prison before they can apply to the Parole Board for release. Of the ‘unreleased’ IPP prisoners who have served their minimum tariff period, 75% have been held for at least ten years beyond the end of their tariff.

The number of ‘recalled’ prisoners serving life sentences increased by 7% to 901 when compared to 31 December 2024, and the number of ‘recalled’ IPP prisoners has decreased by 7% to 1,464 over the same period.

Recall to custody

The population recalled to custody (11,468 prisoners) decreased by 11% relative to the total a year earlier.

There were changes to fixed-term recall from 2 September 2025 ^{[footnote 1]} such that those recalled to prison from certain sentences of less than 4 years being largely mandated to receive a 28-day fixed term recall as opposed to a standard recall. Eligible prisoners who were in prison on recall (and who had been in prison on recall for more than 28 days) would have been released when the policy change was enacted - as can be seen from the corresponding month-end decreases from September to December 2025.

Further information on recent trends in prison recalls can be found in the “Licence recalls” chapter.

Foreign National Offenders (FNOs)

There were 10,376 (3,576 remand, 6,463 sentenced and 337 non-criminal) foreign nationals held in custody on 31 December 2025; representing 12% of the total prison population. The number of FNOs in the prison population was virtually unchanged compared to 31 December 2024. The most common nationalities after British Nationals in prisons are Albanian (9% of the FNO prison population), Irish (7%), Polish (7%), Romanian (6%) and Indian (4%).

Question 2

2. Prison receptions and admissions

Accepted Answer

There were 19,413 first receptions into custody in the latest quarter.

13,555 were remand first receptions, 5,757 were sentenced first receptions and 101 were non-criminal first receptions.

Prisoner first receptions

The total number of first receptions between July and September 2025 was 3% higher than the same quarter in 2024.

There were 3,466 first receptions of foreign nationals between July and September 2025, which is 2% higher compared to the same quarter last year. There was a 4% increase in first receptions for British nationals over the same period. The representation of foreign nationals amongst first receptions has consistently been 18% to 19% since the final quarter of 2022.

The foreign nationalities with the highest numbers of first receptions in the latest quarter were: Albanian (370), Romanian (313) and Polish (271). Compared to the same quarter in 2024 this corresponds to a decrease in first receptions of Albanians by 14%, by 11% for Romanians and Poles by 9%. When taken together, these three nationalities accounted for 28% of the total 3,466 first receptions of foreign nationals in this quarter, a decrease from 30% last quarter.

Among sentenced first receptions in July and September 2025, sentence lengths of greater than 6 months to less than 12 months increased by 41% compared to the same quarter in 2024. This is likely associated with the increase in the maximum custodial sentence that magistrates may issue for a single offence, which was doubled from 6 months to up to 12 months in November 2024. You can find further information about increased sentencing powers for magistrates on GOV.UK (opens in new window).

Prison admissions

Compared to the same quarter in 2024 untried remand admissions increased by 1%, while convicted unsentenced remand admissions decreased by 1%. Sentenced admissions were up 4% and recall admissions were up 24%.

When considering remand admissions, violence against the person had the largest number of remand admissions overall, accounting for 37% of untried remand admissions and 30% of convicted unsentenced remand admissions.

For immediate custodial sentenced (ICS) admissions, violence against the person increased by 8% compared to the same quarter last year and represented the largest number of ICS admissions overall, accounting for almost a quarter (24%) of all ICS admissions. ICS admissions for fraud offences increased 24% compared to the same period in the previous year.

For ICS admissions, the most common offence groups for males, comprising 56% of all ICS male admissions, were violence against the person (24%), drug offences (16%), and theft offences (16%). These three offence groups were also the most common for ICS female admissions, accounting for 62% of all female ICS admissions. However, for female ICS admissions the highest proportion was for theft offences (30%), followed by violence against the person (21%), and drug offences (10%).

Recalls

There were 11,854 ‘recall prison admissions’ (those returned to prison for breaching their release conditions) between July and September 2025 (24% higher than the same quarter in 2024, and a ‘record high’). The increase in recall admissions continues the trend seen since early 2022 and is likely driven by a combination of factors including: previous increases in the number of people serving sentences with an extended licence (and therefore a longer period during which they could be recalled); the implementation of early release schemes, such as SDS40; and the removal of standard recalls being expanded to those serving determinate sentences of 4 years or less on 2 September 2025 ^{[footnote 1]}. For further information, please refer to the licence recalls section of this publication.

Former Members of the Armed Forces

Following a data quality investigation, OMSQ Receptions Table 2_Q_12: ‘First receptions of former members of the armed services’ has been paused indefinitely.

For further information, please refer to the ‘Points to note’ section of this publication.

Question 3

3. Releases

Accepted Answer

14,038 offenders were released from custody in the latest quarter.

13,977 releases from determinate sentences and 61 from indeterminate sentences.

Prison releases from custodial sentences

The number of prisoner releases between July and September 2025 fell 6% compared to the same period in 2024.

Between July and September 2025, there was a large increase in the number of prisoners released from sentences greater than 6 months to less than 12 months, up 42% compared to the same period in 2024. This corresponds with a recent increase in the prison population serving sentences of this length and may be related to the increase in Magistrates Sentencing Powers introduced in November 2024, which allow magistrates to hand down sentences of up to 12 months.

Between July and September 2025, there were decreases in releases observed for all determinate sentences of 2 years to less than 14 years with a particularly large decrease, of 49%, in releases from sentences of 4 years to less than 5 years, compared to the same period in 2024. This is likely due to the introduction of the SDS40 early release scheme in September 2024. ‘Tranche 1’ of releases under this scheme, which impacted eligible prisoners serving sentences of 5 years or less, started on 10th September 2024 with bulk releases on the first day of this tranche.

Releases on Home Detention Curfew (HDC)

The number of prisoners released on HDC in the latest quarter fell to 2,682, down 15% compared to the same period last year, driven by decreases of 31% for determinate sentences of 2 years to less than 4 years, and 43% for 4 years to less than 5 years. This is likely due to two policy changes which led to a high number of HDC releases during July to September 2024: ‘tranche 1’ of SDS40 in September 2024 and changes to HDC policy in June 2024 which made prisoners serving longer determinate sentences, of 4 years or more, eligible for HDC.

Of HDC releases between July and September 2025, 32% were of prisoners serving sentences of 4 years or more, up slightly from 31% in the same period in 2024.

Releases on Temporary Licence (ROTL)

There were 99,037 incidences of ROTL during the quarter ending September 2025, a decrease of 6% compared to the same quarter in 2024. Of the ROTL incidences in the latest quarter, 67% were for ‘Work Related’ reasons.

The number of individuals receiving at least one incidence of ROTL between July and September 2025 fell, down 9% (to 3,992) compared to the same quarter in 2024.

There were 224 Temporary Release Failures (TRF) between July and September 2025, however this still indicates more than 99.5% of ROTL incidences in the latest quarter did not result in a failure.

Prisoner transfers

Between July and September 2025 there were 24,475 incidences of prisoner transfer, with 20,750 prisoners having at least one incidence of transfer. Both figures represent increases, of 3% and 2%, respectively, since the same period of 2024.

Question 4

4. Adjudications

Accepted Answer

There were 71,381 adjudication outcomes between July and September 2025.

This is an increase of 4% on the same quarter in the previous year. Additional days were awarded as punishment on 1,586 occasions in this quarter.

Around three in five (62%) adjudications were proven.

Changes to underlying prisoner religion codes

As part of wider ongoing data improvement work, following consultation with operational colleagues the prisoner religion / belief codes and associated religion groups have been streamlined to aid more accurate data entry and initial processing.

This has affected a number of the prisoner adjudications tables. For more information, please refer to the relevant section of the ‘Points to note’ text on page 2 of this document.

Tables 4_Q_36 to 4_Q_40 – “average punishments per proven adjudication”

As proposed last quarter, we have removed these tables from our Adjudications data series. This has been done in order to improve general readability for users. If any users are still interested in the ‘average punishments per proven adjudication’ data, they will be able to easily calculate this themselves by dividing the ‘number of punishments’ by the ‘number of proven adjudications’.

There was a 5% increase in the number of proven adjudications (to 44,319) from the same quarter in 2024. This, in turn, contributed to a 9% rise in the number of punishments during the same period, reaching 132,582.

Increases in proven adjudications were recorded across all major adjudication offence categories. The largest percentage rise was in ‘Violence’, which increased by 9% to 6,216.

Together ‘Disobedience or disrespect’ and ‘Unauthorised transactions’ accounted for 61% of all proven adjudications. Along with ‘Violence’, which represented 14% of the total, these three categories accounted for three-quarters of all proven adjudications.

Between July and September 2025, additional days were awarded as punishment on 1,586 occasions. A total of 25,646 days were awarded in this period — a 10% decrease compared to the same quarter in 2024, when 28,373 days were awarded.

Further insights into adjudication trends between 2011 and 2018 can be found in ‘The Adjudications Story’ publication.

Question 5

5. Licence Recalls

Accepted Answer

The number of licence recalls between July and September 2025 was 12,836, of which 615 were recalls from Home Detention Curfew (HDC).

The total number of recalls increased by 29% compared to the same quarter in 2024.

Quarterly recall numbers have been historically high in the last five quarters in both recalls of offenders released from a sentence of under 12 months (ORA recalls) and non-ORA recalls. This is likely to be associated with the introduction of (a) Fixed-Term Recall Statutory Instrument (FTR-SI) in April 2024 and (b) Standard Determinate Sentences 40% (SDS40) in September 2024. FTR-SI mandated fixed-term recalls and automatic release after 14 days in prison on recall (retrospectively applied) for most ORA offenders. SDS40 allows certain prisoners serving a standard determinate sentence (with a 50% conditional release point) to be released at the 40% point of their sentence. The combined effect expected from these changes is an increased number of offenders released on licence and therefore more opportunities for offenders to be recalled. The latest overall recall figure (12,836) is an increase of 29% from a year ago and an increase of 16% from the previous quarter.

There were changes to fixed-term recalls from 2 September 2025, retrospectively applied, such that those recalled to prison from certain sentences of less than 4 years would largely be mandated to receive a 28-day fixed term recall as opposed to a standard recall. Eligible prisoners who were in prison on recall (and who had been in prison on recall for more than 28 days) would have been released when the policy change was enacted. We would expect these changes to have an upward impact on number of recalls in future.

FTR-SI mandated fixed-term recalls and automatic release after 14 days in prison on recall (retrospectively applied) for most ORA offenders. SDS40 allows certain prisoners serving a standard determinate sentence (with a 50% conditional release point) to be released at the 40% point of their sentence.

The latest ORA recall figure (6,137) represents an increase of 24% from a year ago and an increase of 11% from the previous quarter. ORA recalls have gone up from before April 2024 mostly as a result of the introduction of FTR-SI in April 2024.

There were 6,699 recalls of offenders with a sentence of 12 months or more (including those with indeterminate sentences) in July-September 2025, representing an increase of 22% from the previous quarter and an increase of 33% from a year ago.

Of the recalls in July-September 2025, about 45% were 14-day fixed-term recalls, 26% were 28-day fixed-term recalls, 27% were standard determinate-sentence recalls, and 2% were standard indeterminate-sentence recalls. This distribution of recall length from July 2025 is not comparable to the distribution prior to July 2025; previously, some recalls were recorded as “emergency” recalls without reference to whether they were fixed-term or standard recalls, and these were placed in an ‘Other’ recall length category.

Ethnicity proportions in quarterly recalls have remained relatively stable, with about 8 in 10 recalls being white, 8% being black and 5% being Asian in the latest figures.

There usually is more than one reason for recalling an offender on licence. Of recalls in July-September 2025, about 74% involved non-compliance, 39% involved failure to keep in touch, 24% involved failure to reside, and 21% involved a charge of further offending. These proportions have remained relatively stable in recent quarters.

Between July-September 2025, 119 IPP prisoners and 51 prisoners serving a life sentence were rereleased, having previously been returned to custody for a breach of licence conditions. The total of these releases is a decrease of 24% from a year ago, with IPP releases decreasing by 22 offenders and life-sentence releases decreasing by 31 offenders.

Offenders not returned to custody

Of all those released on licence and recalled to custody due to breaching the conditions of their licence between April 1999 and September 2025, there were 2,964 who had not been returned to custody by the end of December 2025.

A further 15 offenders had not been returned to custody as of December 2025 after recall between 1984 and April 1999, meaning the total number of offenders not returned to custody at the end of December 2025 was 2,979. These figures include some offenders believed to be dead or living abroad but who have not been confirmed as dead or deported.

Of the 2,979 not returned to custody by 31 December 2025, 443 had originally been serving a prison sentence for violence against the person offences and a further 84 for sexual offences.

Question 6

6. Probation

Accepted Answer

The total number of offenders on probation (i.e., court orders and pre/post-release supervision) in England and Wales at the end of September 2025 was 246,502.

This represents an increase of 2% compared with the end of September 2024 and a larger increase of 5% compared with the end of September 2015.

Overall results

Latest figures show that, following a return to trends observed prior to the COVID-19 pandemic ^{[footnote 2]}, probation starts have fluctuated and, although there was a slight decrease in the second quarter of 2025 compared to the first, the overall trend has been a gradual and steady increase. Meanwhile, the probation caseload has remained relatively stable with slight increases over recent quarters.

Probation reset

Between 29 April 2024 and 1 July 2024, the Probation Service introduced a change in practice that focuses probation practitioners on engagement at the beginning of orders, where intervention can have the most impact ^{[footnote 3]}. Unless offenders meet certain exemption criteria, this will suspend some sentence management contact for offenders on licence, post-sentence supervision, and those with rehabilitation activity requirements under community orders or suspended sentence orders. Although the reset will suspend some contact for eligible offenders, their orders and licences will remain active. Consequently, these offenders will still be accounted for in the probation caseload figures presented in this publication. This publication includes figures on the number of individuals on the caseload who have had their contact supervision suspended under Probation Reset, covering data from 30 September 2024 to the latest reporting period. These figures have been presented in Table 6.6 of the publication.

Probation impact

On 28 April 2025, the Probation Service introduced Impact ^{[footnote 4]}, a new approach for managing low-risk individuals on probation. It applies to eligible individuals starting a community order or released on licence from this date onward and is not retrospective. The new policy focuses on early engagement, supporting access to community services that address offender needs. Contact appointments are completed during the first 16 weeks. After this period, probation practitioner contact is suspended, though orders and licences will remain active. All other requirements and licence conditions remain unchanged and must still be completed. These individuals will continue to be included in published caseload statistics.

Other policy changes

Changes to the recall process ^{[footnote 5]} effective from 2 April 2024, mandate the use of fixed term recalls rather than standard recalls for offenders sentenced to less than 12 months of custody, subject to certain exceptions. Additionally, the End of Custody Supervised Licence (ECSL) scheme ^{[footnote 6]}, which ran from 17 October 2023 to the 9 September 2024, and the introduction of the Standard Determinate Sentences (SDS40) scheme ^{[footnote 7]}, which came into force on 10 September 2024, both released eligible determinate sentenced prisoners prior to their conditional release date ^{[footnote 8]}. These changes are also likely to have had some effect on the probation caseload.

On 1 November 2024, changes to the licence termination criteria for Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) and Detention for Public Protection (DPP) offenders in the community came into force ^{[footnote 9]}. Reforms mean IPP offenders who were first released from custody at least five years ago and not recalled to prison in the last two years will have their licences automatically terminated. Those aged under 18 who were sentenced to a DPP can have their licences terminated four years following their first release, with the same provision that they must not have been recalled in the last two years. Further changes, effective from 1 February 2025, cut the eligibility period for the Parole Board to consider ending licences from 10 years after first release to three years for IPP offenders and two years for DPP offenders. Although the changes introduced on 1 November 2024 have now come into effect and the number of IPP offenders on the probation caseload has largely decreased, there are a handful of offenders who, in practice, have had their licences terminated, however, still remain in the probation caseload figures due to the data being drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large-scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Caseload

Probation caseload is a snapshot of all supervision by the Probation Service which was active on the last day of each reporting period.

As at 30 September 2025, there were 246,502 offenders supervised by the Probation Service in England and Wales (Figure 2). This has remained broadly stable over recent years, increasing by 2% compared to 30 September 2024 and, more recently, increasing by just 0.9% compared to 30 June 2025.

Between the end of September 2024 and the end of September 2025, court order caseload increased by 3% from 107,124 to 110,167, with the number of offenders on a community order (CO) fluctuating but remaining stable and those on a suspended sentence order with requirements (SSO) increasing by 7%.

The total caseload of offenders supervised before or after release from prison at the end of September 2025 was 141,329, representing an increase of 2% compared to the end of September 2024. While the overall growth in pre- and post-release supervision since September 2023 has been primarily driven by the post-release caseload, recent trends show a shift in this dynamic. Between September 2024 and September 2025, the increase was similar across both categories; in fact, the pre-release supervision caseload saw a slightly larger proportional increase of 3% (rising to 77,130) compared to a 2% increase in post-release supervision (rising to 64,298). This broader upward trend since late 2023 coincides with the introduction of both the ECSL and SDS40 schemes.

Figure 2: Number of offenders under Probation Service supervision, 30 September 2015 to 2025 ^{[footnote 10]}

Source: The table of data that this graph is based on is labelled as ‘Table 6.6’ in the quarterly probation tables from 2023. In probation tables published between 2018 and 2022, this table is labelled as ‘Table 4.6’. In probation tables published prior to 2018, this table is labelled as ‘Table 4.7’.

Starts

Between July and September 2025, 44,805 offenders started court order or pre-release supervision by the Probation Service (Figure 3). This represents an increase of 6% on the same quarter a year ago, and an increase of 3% on the previous quarter. Of these:^{[footnote 11]}

26,225 offenders started court order supervision – this increased by 3% compared with the previous quarter, and by 5% compared with the same quarter in the previous year
18,590 offenders started pre-release supervision – this increased by 4% in comparison with the last quarter, and by 7% compared with the same quarter last year

Of those under court order supervision:

16,316 offenders started community orders (COs) – this represents an increase of 3% since the previous quarter, and an increase of 5% compared with the same quarter in 2024
9,829 offenders started suspended sentence orders with requirements (SSOs) – this is an increase of 2% compared with the previous quarter, and an increase of 6% compared with the same quarter in the previous year

Of those under pre-release supervision, 222 offenders started a committal for breach of post-sentence supervision. This represents a decrease of 31% compared to the same quarter a year ago. This noticeable change coincides with the implementation of Probation Reset.

Figure 3: Number of offenders starting supervision under the Probation Service, October 2022 to September 2025^{[footnote 10]}

Source: Table 6.1 of the quarterly probation tables published from 2023. Table 4.1 in quarterly probation tables published prior to 2023.

Overall, between July and September 2025, 26,745 requirements were started under COs and 17,602 under SSOs, representing an increase of 3% and no notable change, respectively, compared with the same period in the previous year.

In the latest quarter, increases were seen across most requirement types under both COs and SSOs. Rehabilitation remains the most common requirement included within a CO and SSO. Compared with the same quarter a year ago, the number of rehabilitation requirements started under COs rose by 6% to 12,316 and by 7% to 8,405 under SSOs.

Under COs, some of the most notable changes in requirements commenced between July and September 2025 compared with the same quarter in 2024 were:

prohibited activity increasing by 47% to 113
exclusion increasing by 43% to 410
alcohol abstinence and monitoring (AAMR) increasing by 28% to 1,092
drug rehabilitation (DRR) increasing by 9% to 1,451
accredited programmes decreasing by 52% to 842
electronic monitoring decreasing by 12% to 545

Under SSOs, some of the most notable changes in requirements commenced between July and September 2025 compared to the same quarter in 2024 were:

prohibited activity increasing by 50% to 81
alcohol abstinence and monitoring (AAMR) increasing by 19% to 723
rehabilitation increasing by 7% to 8,405
mental health treatment (MHTR) increasing by 6% to 510
accredited programmes decreasing by 45% to 1,019
electronic monitoring decreasing by 5% to 503

The general increase in MHTRs within COs and SSOs since July 2020 is linked to a scaling up of the availability to sentence to this requirement across the criminal courts of England. This follows the introduction of new MHTR services provided by NHS England and is part of an initiative ^{[footnote 12]} that aims to reduce reoffending and short custodial sentences by addressing the underlying mental health issues which may be contributing towards offending behaviours.

The decline in accredited programme requirements since April 2025 is likely driven by a new prioritisation process (announced in February 2025 ^{[footnote 13]}), designed to ensure that accredited programmes are handed down by the courts to individuals assessed as having a higher risk of reoffending.

Since April 2022, there has been a noticeable decline in electronic monitoring requirements. This is likely associated with the mandating of domestic abuse and safeguarding enquiries in all cases where electronically monitored curfews are proposed. This policy mandates that electronically monitored curfews should not be recommended to the courts unless these enquiries have been made first, and this has likely led to the observed decrease in the overall number of electronically monitored curfews issued.

This policy was introduced in April 2022, and the decline was initially observed in curfew figures only. However, reforms to recording practices from October 2022, to more accurately record curfew requirements with and without electronic monitoring, mean that this decline has now shifted from curfew figures to electronic monitoring figures. Recent figures suggest this downward trend has now stabilised, indicating a possible levelling-off in the impact of this policy.

In terms of the most frequently used combinations of requirements commenced between July and September 2025, rehabilitation was the most common requirement to be combined with other requirements.

Compared to the same quarter in 2024, under COs, rehabilitation requirements combined separately with:

AAMR increased by 23% to 501
Unpaid work increased by 22% to 3,583
DRR increased by 11% to 962
Electronic monitoring increased by 10% to 227

In contrast, rehabilitation requirements combined with accredited programmes and unpaid work together decreased by 34% to 244 over the same period while rehabilitation combined with accredited programmes only decreased by 30% to 253.

Compared to the same quarter in 2024, under SSOs, rehabilitation requirements combined separately with:

AAMR and unpaid work increased by 25% to 168
AAMR increased by 22% to 284
Unpaid work increased by 16% to 2,549
DRR increased by 11% to 557

In contrast, rehabilitation combined with accredited programmes and unpaid work together decreased by 22% to 301 and rehabilitation combined with accredited programmes only decreased by 17% to 323 over the same period.

Terminations

Probation terminations cover all community order (CO) and suspended sentence order (SSO) supervision by the Probation Service which terminated within the reporting period.

Of the 14,208 COs and 8,427 SSOs terminated between July and September 2025, 72% and 76% respectively were terminated successfully. For COs, this means they either ran their full course or were terminated early for good progress, while for SSOs it means they ran their full course.

Pre-sentence reports

In the quarter July to September 2025, the total number of PSRs prepared by the Probation Service stood at 26,501, representing a 2% increase from the last quarter and an 8% increase from the same quarter in 2024.

The number of SSOs proposed in PSRs declined steeply from 12,762 in the year ending December 2018 to 2 in the year ending September 2025. This decline is associated with a change in 2018 of the guidelines to probation staff on the recommendation of SSOs in PSRs ^{[footnote 14]}. As a result, concordance rates ^{[footnote 15]} for SSOs should be interpreted with caution.

In the year ending September 2025, 87% of immediate custodial sentences proposed in PSRs resulted in that sentence being given, representing the highest concordance between sentence proposed and sentence given, excluding SSOs. Furthermore, immediate custody represented 9% of all sentences proposed in PSRs over the same period, meanwhile community sentences, which had a concordance rate of 47%, represented 88%.

Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) offenders

Following the reforms to IPP and Detention for Public Protection (DPP) licence termination criteria, which were introduced on 1 November 2024 and 1 February 2025, the number of IPP and DPP offenders on licence in the community as at 30 September 2025 fell to 943. This is a decrease of 6% compared to the end of June 2025 and a 67% decrease compared to the end of September 2024.

Further information

This publication presents quarterly data trends.

Our statisticians regularly review the content of publications. Development of new and improved statistical outputs is usually dependent on reallocating existing resources. As part of our continual review and prioritisation, we welcome user feedback on existing outputs including content, breadth, frequency, and methodology. Please send any comments you have on this publication including suggestions for further developments or reductions in content.

Accompanying files

As well as this bulletin, the following products are published as part of this release:

A ‘Guide to Offender Management Statistics’, which provides comprehensive information about data sources and quality, as well as key legislative changes.
A document outlining the ‘Users of Offender Management Statistics’
A set of data tables, covering each section of this bulletin, including a prison population data tool.

Accredited official statistics status

National Statistics are accredited official statistics. These accredited official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in July 2012. They comply with the highest standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled ‘accredited official statistics’. (Note that accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007).

Our statistical practice is regulated by the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR). OSR sets the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics that all producers of official statistics should adhere to. You are welcome to contact us directly with any comments about how we meet these standards. Alternatively, you can contact OSR by emailing regulation@statistics.gov.uk or via the OSR website: https://osr.statisticsauthority.gov.uk/

It is the Ministry of Justice’s responsibility to maintain compliance with the standards expected for these accredited official statistics. If we become concerned about whether these statistics are still meeting the appropriate standards, we will discuss any concerns with the OSR promptly. This accredited status can be removed at any point when the highest standards are not maintained and reinstated when standards are restored.

Contact

Press enquiries should be directed to the Ministry of Justice press office: https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/ministry-of-justice/about/media-enquiries

Non-Press enquiries about the Probation chapter of this publication should be sent to: probation-statistics-enquiries@justice.gov.uk

Non-Press enquiries about all other chapters of this publication should be sent to: OMSQ-SiC-publications@justice.gov.uk

Next update: 30 April 2026

URL: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/offender-management-statistics-quarterly

‘https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2025/833/made’ ↩ ↩²
Total caseload as at 31 December 2019 (i.e. the last reporting period prior to the pandemic) stood at 247,759. ‘https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/981212/Probation_Q4_2020.ods’ ↩
Further details are available at: ‘Prisons and Probation: Foreign National Offenders - Hansard - UK Parliament’ and ‘https://democracy.leics.gov.uk/documents/s183789/Probation%20Reset.pdf’ ↩
Further details are available at: ‘https://www.bedfordshire.pcc.police.uk/SysSiteAssets/public-information/meetings/cjb/29.04.2025/beds-pcc.pdf’ ↩
‘Criminal Justice Act 2003 (Suitability for Fixed Term - Hansard - UK Parliament’ ↩
Figures on the number of prisoners released under the ECSL scheme are available here: ‘https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6723620e46aa392ce3565530/ECSL_Commentary_Transparency.pdf’ ↩
Figures on the number of prisoners released under the SDS40 scheme are available here: ‘https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/standard-determinate-sentence-sds40-release-data’ ↩
Most prisoners sentenced to a standard determinate sentence (SDS) are automatically released at their conditional release date, which is the half-way point of sentence. Prisoners serving an SDS are on licence supervision until the end of sentence. ↩
‘htpps://www.gov.uk/government/news/end-of-lifetime-licences-for-rehabilitated-ipp-offenders ↩
The number of offenders on the probation caseload in 2020 was substantially reduced as a result of the operational restrictions that were put in place on the 23 March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. While the impact of these operational restrictions continued into subsequent periods, figures in more recent periods have recovered to pre-pandemic levels. ↩ ↩²
Each person is counted once only for each type of probation supervision started within the time period. In addition, each person is counted once only in each total or sub-total even if they started several types of probation supervision within the time period. This means that the totals and sub-totals are less than adding the sum of their parts. For example, if a person started a community order and a Supervision Default Order within the time period, then the person would be counted once only within the total of all community sentences. ↩
The initiative started in 2017 in five areas, with a national roll out to be completed by mid-2024. ‘https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/918187/a-smarter-approach-to-sentencing.pdf’ ↩
‘www.gov.uk/government/speeches/lord-chancellors-sets-out-her-vision-for-the-probation-service’ and ‘https://committees.parliament.uk/publications/46711/documents/240618/default/’ ↩
The Sentencing Council guideline, effective from 1 September 2025, provides guidance for sentencers on the imposition of community and custodial sentences, and is available at: ‘https://www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk/guidelines/imposition-of-community-and-custodial-sentences/’ ↩
Concordance refers to how closely the sentence recommended in a pre-sentence report aligns with the sentence ultimately imposed by the court. ↩

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