Official Statistics

Tribunal Statistics Quarterly: October to December 2025

Published 12 March 2026

© Crown copyright 2026

This publication is licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0 except where otherwise stated. To view this licence, visit nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or email: psi@nationalarchives.gov.uk.

Where we have identified any third party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned.

This publication is available at https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/tribunals-statistics-quarterly-october-to-december-2025/tribunal-statistics-quarterly-october-to-december-2025--2

1. Main Points

This publication presents tribunals statistics for the latest quarter (October to December, Q3 2025/26), compared to the same quarter of the previous year. The collection page with links to the accompanying documents for this publication can be found here.

This publication does not include all the tribunals – figures for Upper Tribunal Immigration and Asylum (UTIAC) are excluded. The total of the remaining jurisdictions is referred to in the accompanying tables as the ‘Interim Total’ and has been provided to allow like-for-like comparisons over time.

Data from the missing tribunals will be published as soon as they become available and are quality assured.
The interim[footnote 1] overall volumes of receipts and open cases have increased, while disposals have decreased In October to December 2025 His Majesty’s Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) recorded a 14% increase in the interim[footnote 1] total for receipts, and a 4% decrease in the total for disposals, compared to the same quarter in 2024. Receipts have exceeded disposals over the last year, resulting in a 19% increase in open caseload to 831,000 at the end of December 2025.
SSCS receipts increased, while disposals decreased Compared to the same period in 2024, Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) receipts increased by 12% and disposals decreased by 26%. Receipts have exceeded disposals over the last year, resulting in a 25% increase in open cases.
FTTIAC receipts, disposals and open cases all increased FTTIAC receipts increased by 48%, while disposals increased by 33% in October to December 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. Over the last year, receipts have exceeded cases disposed of, leading to an increase in open caseload of 86%.
Employment Tribunal receipts and disposals decreased, while open caseload increased[footnote 2] Single Employment Tribunal (ET) receipts increased by 54%, while disposals decreased by 34% in Q3 2025/26, compared to the same period a year ago. Open caseload also increased by 49% over the same period as receipts have exceeded disposals over the last year. In Q3 2025/26 multiple ET claim receipts decreased by 43%, while disposals decreased by 49% compared to the same period a year ago. Open claims increased by 9% over the same period, as receipts have outweighed disposals over the last year.
Gender Recognition Certificates receipts, disposals and open caseload all increased This quarter there were 400 Gender Recognition Panel (GRP) applications received, 560 disposals and an open caseload of 1,400. GRP receipts increased by 26%, while disposals increased by 39% in Q3 2025, compared to the same period in 2024. Although both receipts and disposals have risen compared to Q3 2024, there have been more receipts over the last year than disposals, resulting in an increase in open caseload of 69%.

For feedback related to the content of this publication, please contact us at CAJS@justice.gov.uk

2. Statistician’s Comment

Overall, tribunal receipts continued to rise in Q3 2025/26 compared to the previous year, whilst disposals have fallen slightly in the current period. This ongoing pattern has contributed to sustained increases in the open caseload. The open caseload is at its highest level since Q3 2013/14.

The rise in receipts compared to the same quarter in 2024/25 is driven by increases in both First-tier Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber (FTTIAC) - to the highest level since 2011/12 - and Single Employment claims - to the highest level since 2012/13. Whilst disposals for FTTIAC have also risen over this period, disposals in the single employment tribunal have declined.

The number of applications to the Gender Recognition Panel have shown signs of stabilising in Q3 2025/26, following a peak in Q1. Disposals for the panel have risen in the latest two quarters, and exceed applications, leading to a decrease in open caseload compared to the previous quarter, although it remains 69% higher than the same period in 2024/25.

3. Overview of Tribunals

The interim receipts total was 118,000 and the interim disposals total was 73,000 in Q3 2025/26

In October to December 2025, HMCTS recorded a 14% increase in the totals for receipts, and a 4% decrease in the totals for disposals, when compared to the same quarter in 2024. Over the year, receipts exceeded disposals and the open caseload total increased by 19%, to 831,000, at the end of the period.

This publication does not include Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) data from Q2 of 2021/22 and Employment Tribunals data for Q1 2021/22 due to database migration. The total of the remaining jurisdictions is referred to in this publication and accompanying tables as the ‘Interim Total’ and has been provided to allow consistent year-on-year comparisons over time.

This summary bulletin focuses mainly on the Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) Tribunal, the First-tier Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber (FTTIAC), and the Employment Tribunal as they made up the majority (79%) of tribunal receipts in October to December 2025:

  • Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) - 32% of receipts
  • Employment Tribunal (ET) - 19% of receipts
  • First-tier tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber (FTTIAC) - 27% of receipts

Figure 3.1: Receipts and disposals interim totals, Q3 2021/22 to Q3 2025/26 (Source: Tables S_2 and S_3)

Figure 3.2: Open caseload[footnote 3] interim totals, Q3 2021/22 to Q3 2025/26 (Source: Table S_4)

The charts above show the trends in receipts, disposals and open caseload over the last five years for SSCS, FTTIAC, ET (single + multiple claims), and all tribunals (using the Interim Total measure).

In October to December 2025, overall receipts increased by 14% compared to October to December 2024. Some of the biggest increases occurred in Employment Single claims and First-tier Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber (54% and 48% respectively).

Overall disposals decreased by 4% in October to December 2025 (to 73,000) compared to Q3 2024/25. The fall was driven by decreases in Employment Tribunal and SSCS (down 40% and 26% respectively). However, this was offset by increases in disposals for the FTTIAC and the First-tier Tax Chamber (up 33% and 197% respectively).

Over the latest 12 months, total receipts have exceeded disposals, resulting in an overall increase in the open caseload, and this is at its highest level since Q3 2013/14.

HMCTS are currently reviewing the Employment Appeal Tribunals, Upper Tribunal (Administrative Appeals Chamber), Upper Tribunal (Lands) and Upper Tribunal (Tax & Chancery) figures as part of their broader data quality program. This review may lead to revisions in the future and so users should treat these figures with some caution at this stage.

4. Social Security and Child Support

Compared to the same period in 2024, Social Security and Child Support (SSCS) increased by 12% and disposals decreased by 26%. Open cases increased by 25%, as receipts have exceeded disposals over the last year.

Of the 22,000 disposals in Q3 2025/26, 66% were cleared at a hearing (compared to 60% in the same period in 2024/25) and of these, 58% had the initial decision revised in favour of the claimant (compared to 60% in the same period in 2024/25).

From April 2023 the SSCS Tribunal started to list cases using a new Scheduling and Listing solution. Alongside this, HMCTS has been migrating to a new platform used for the storage and extraction of data (the Strategic Data Platform). As a result, some cases heard and decided using the new listing system for SSCS Cardiff are not yet included in the published data. Revised, complete data will be published as soon as they are available.

In January 2026, a data quality issue was identified affecting open caseload for SSCS, with caseload being potentially over-reported by ~5k cases. This is currently being investigated and may lead to some revisions when this process is complete.

Figure 4.1: Social Security and Child Support receipts and disposals, Q3 2021/22 to Q3 2025/26 (Source: Tables SSCS_1 and SSCS_2)

Figure 4.2: Social Security and Child Support open caseload, Q3 2021/22 to Q3 2025/26 (Source: Table SSCS_4)

Following a drop due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, SSCS receipts increased significantly from Q2 2021/22 and have remained relatively stable since Q1 2022/23. Receipts have risen to their highest level since 2020/21 in the current quarter, but it is too early to determine if this trend will continue.

SSCS receipts increased by 12% this quarter, at 38,000, compared to October to December 2024. This was driven by increases in Universal Credit (UC) up 35%, Personal Independence Payment (PIP) up 4% and Disability Living Allowance (DLA) up 64%. The biggest contributors in terms of receipt volumes are PIP and UC appeals, which accounted for 59% and 23% respectively of all SSCS receipts in October to December 2025.

In October to December 2025, SSCS disposals decreased by 26% when compared to the same period in 2024, at 22,000. PIP made up over half (60%), and UC, around a fifth (21%) of SSCS disposal volumes.

Of the disposals made by the SSCS tribunal, 15,000 (66%) were cleared at hearing (up from 60% in the same period in 2024), and of these, 58% were overturned in favour of the claimant (down from 60% in the same period in 2024). This overturn rate varied by benefit type, with PIP at 64%, DLA 59%, Employment Support Allowance (ESA) 42%, and UC 48%. The PIP, DLA, ESA and UC overturn rates all decreased compared with October to December 2024 (PIP down 3, DLA down 2, ESA down 11 and UC down 1 percentage points).

There were 99,000 SSCS cases in the open caseload at the end of December 2025, an increase of 25% compared to the same period in 2024. SSCS open caseload decreased gradually between Q4 2017/18 and Q2 2021/22 (from a peak of 125,000 to 32,000), only rising in Q3 2019/20. However, since Q2 2021/22, SSCS open caseload has shown a generally increasing trend.

Of those cases disposed of by the SSCS tribunal in October to December 2025, the mean age of a case at disposal was 37 weeks, a 7 week increase compared to the same period in 2024 (see table T_2).

5. Immigration and Asylum

First-tier Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber (FTTIAC)

In October to December 2025, FTTIAC receipts increased by 48% to 32,000, compared to the same quarter last year. Disposals increased by 33% (to 14,000), over the same period.

In the same period, open caseload increased by 86% (to 139,000).

Figure 5.1: First-tier Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber receipts and disposals, Q3 2021/22 to Q3 2025/26 (Source: Tables FIA_1 and FIA_2)

Figure 5.2: First-tier Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber open caseload, Q3 2021/22 to Q3 2025/26 (Source: Table FIA_4)

This quarter receipts increased by 48% (to 32,000) compared to the same period last year, predominantly driven by increases in EEA Free Movement and Asylum/Protection/Revocation of Protection (by 118% and 45% respectively). After a period of stability in 2022/23 following recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, receipts have risen steeply since Q3 2023/24 driven by increases in Asylum/Protection/Revocation of Protection, due to the Home Office’s work to tackle the backlog of legacy asylum claims.

Human Rights (HR) receipts increased by 2% to 5,500 over the same period. HR, AP and EEA proportionally represented 17%, 55% and 27% of all FTTIAC receipts respectively (down 8, down 1 and up 9 percentage points respectively from a year ago).

In Q3 2025/26, FTTIAC disposals increased by 33% to 14,000. This rise in disposals was driven by increases in Asylum/Protection/Revocation of Protection and EEA Free Movement (by 49% and 48% respectively). Asylum/Protection/Revocation of Protection disposals made up the largest proportion (54%) of all FTTIAC disposals in October to December 2025, up from 48% a year ago.

Of the disposals made in the FTTIAC this quarter, 45% were determined i.e. a decision was made by a judge at a hearing or on the papers (compared to 64% in Q3 2024/25); 32% were withdrawn (compared to 19% in Q3 2024/25); 15% were struck out for non-payment of the appeal fee (compared to 4% in Q3 2024/25), and 8% were invalid or out of time (compared to 5% in Q3 2024/25). Around a third (36%) of the 6,300 cases determined at a hearing or on the papers were allowed/granted, although this varied by case type (36% of Asylum/Protection, 42% of Human Rights and 29% of EEA Free Movement appeals were allowed/granted).

In the FTTIAC, the mean time taken to clear appeals across all categories was at 58 weeks in the latest quarter, 9 weeks longer compared to the same period a year ago. Asylum/Protection, Human Rights and EEA Free Movement had mean times taken of 63, 64, and 41 weeks respectively.

Upper Tribunal Immigration and Asylum Chamber Judicial Reviews (UTIAC JRs)

Receipts and disposals for UTIAC JR’s do not include urgent cases. Therefore, caution should be used when comparing the open caseload to these flows as there may be small differences.

In October to December 2025, there were 1,200 Immigration and Asylum Judicial Review receipts and 1,400 disposals, an increase of 29% and an increase of 9% respectively compared to October to December 2024.

Of the 1,400 Immigration and Asylum Judicial Reviews disposed of, 57% were determined and 3% were transferred to the Administrative Court. The remaining 40% were in the ‘Other’ category, which includes cases that were withdrawn or not served.

During October to December 2025, 900 UTIAC Judicial Review applications were determined by hearing/papers, of which 13% were allowed to continue to the substantive hearing stage. A further 44 were reconsidered at an oral renewal, of which 91% were allowed to continue to the substantive hearing stage. There were 24 substantive hearings which were determined in October to December 2025 of which 63% were granted in favour of the appellant (see table UIA_3).

6. Employment Tribunals

Employment Tribunal single cases

In Q3 2025, the Employment Tribunal received 13,000 single claim receipts and disposed of 5,700 single claim cases. There were 58,000 single claim cases in the open caseload at the end of December.

These figures can be found in the summary (S1, S2, S3 and S4) tables of the main tables and include data from both legacy and Reform case management systems. Numbers in ET_R tables include only Reform single claim cases and so will not match figures in the summary tables.

Employment Tribunal lead multiple cases

There were 590 lead multiple cases received, and 340 cases disposed of in Q3 2025/26. The number of open lead cases stood at 7,400 at the end of December. These lead multiples cover 9,500 Multiple claim receipts, 2,600 disposals, and an open caseload of 466,000 multiple claims at the end of December.

Multiple claims can represent many individual cases linked to a single employer, which is why their volumes can change sharply from quarter to quarter.

Employment Tribunals transitioned to a new database (Employment Case Management) during March to May 2021. It has not been possible to provide full results from both databases during this migration period on a consistent basis. Therefore, Employment Tribunal (ET) data is not available for Q1 2021/22, and as a result we are unable to present data for the full financial year of 2021/22.

The total figures reported here and in the summary tables are produced from a combination of systems (ECM Reform and ECM Legacy) which have been amalgamated from Q2 2025/26 to provide combined totals for Receipts, Disposals and Open Caseload, resulting in revisions to these data series. Previously, this data was provided via a temporary tactical solution, which resulted in overcounting of receipts and open caseload. This issue has now been resolved, however, a data quality review is in progress. We estimate the open caseload may still include approximate 3% overcount for Singles and Lead Multiples.

The Jurisdictional breakdown for receipts, disposals, open caseload, and timeliness is available for Single Employment Tribunals (ET) on the Reform system only. This has been reintroduced to the publication in the ET_R and timeliness tables within the main tables to benefit the broadest range of user needs. Additional data will be added to these tables as multiple cases and the remainder of the single cases transfer to the Reform system. A timetable for the roll out to Reform is included in our Tribunals guide which can be found in the latest publication here.

In Q3 2025/26, there were 23,000 Employment Tribunals (ET) receipts, 58% (13,000) of which were single claims receipts, and the remaining 42% (9,500) were multiple claims receipts, within 590 lead multiple cases. The ET disposed of 8,400 claims in Q3 2025/26. At the end of Q3 2025/26, there were 523,000 open claims in total, covering single and multiple claims.

Figure 6.1: Employment Tribunals single and multiple claims receipts and disposals, Q3 2021/22 to Q3 2025/26 (Source: Tables S_2 and S_3)

  • Note that the axes for single and multiple claims use different scales

Figure 6.2: Employment Tribunals single and multiple claims open caseload, Q3 2021/22 to Q3 2025/26 (Source: Table S_4)

  • Note that the axes for single and multiple claims use different scales

Single claim open caseload (at 58,000) has reached its highest level in the timeseries, exceeding the peak of 44,000 in Q3 2020/21 for the third consecutive quarter, and up 49% compared to the same period in 2024/25.

There were 9,500 multiple claims received this quarter. Multiple claims tend to be more volatile as they can be skewed by a high number of claims against a single employer.

The peaks seen in the disposal chart in Q3 2021/22, Q3 2023/24 and Q4 2023/24 are due to large spikes in multiple claims:

  • A dismissal judgment was issued in December 2021 for multiple British Airways claims. These claims had been withdrawn over a number of years but given the volume and restrictions with the old case management system these had not been formally closed, hence the spike.
  • Between November 2023 and March 2024 a bulk case of multiple claims for equal pay against Glasgow City Council have been settled and subsequently withdrawn, resulting in the spike in disposals in Q3 and Q4 2023/24.

7. Gender Recognition Certificates

400 Gender Recognition Panel (GRP) applications were received and 560 were disposed of between October to December 2025; 1,400 applications were pending by the end of December 2025

The GRP received 400 applications this quarter, an increase of 26% compared to October to December 2024. In Q3 2025/26, disposals continued to rise up 39% compared to the same period in 2024. This follows the spike in receipts in Q1 2025/26. Of the 560 applications disposed of, a full Gender Recognition Certificate (GRC) was granted in 92% of cases (520 full GRCs), up 2 percentage points compared to the same period in 2024 (where 360 full GRCs were granted out of 400 disposals).

The open caseload reached 1,400 in Q3 2025/26, 69% higher than the open caseload value of 820 in the same period of last year, although this is a small decrease compared to the previous quarter as a result of disposals exceeding applications. The increase in the open caseload has been driven by a steep increase in receipts in April to June 2025, when the panel recorded its highest receipt volume in the timeseries at 730, which outweighed the number of disposals in this quarter (260).

Since April 2005/06, when the Gender Recognition Act 2004 came into effect, 60% of interim certificates (170 of the 290 interim GRCs granted) have been converted to a full GRC, 52% of which were converted within 30 weeks. No interim certificates were converted to a full GRC between October to December 2025. The Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act (2020), which took effect from 6th April 2022, changed the process for no fault divorces, reducing the need for interim certificates; we therefore expect to see a considerable drop in these.

Of the 520 full certificates granted in October to December 2025, 49 were for married applicants and 460 for single applicants. 290 (57%) of the individuals granted full certificates were registered male at birth while 220 (43%) were registered female at birth.

Figure 7.1: Applications for Gender Recognition Certificates received, disposed of and pending, Q3 2021/22 to Q3 2025/26 (Source: Tables GRP_1 and GRP_2)

Figure 7.2: Full Gender Recognition Certificates granted by year of birth, 2020/21 to 2024/25 (Source: Table GRP_4)

8. Other Tribunals

Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND)

Increase in Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) receipts by 18% compared to the same quarter last year.

Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) recorded 6,700 receipts this quarter, the highest amount in any quarter in the timeseries and an increase of 18% compared to the same quarter last year. In the same period, 5,300 appeals were disposed of, and open caseload rose to 16,000 increases of 13% and 42% respectively.

SEN reforms in 2014 introduced Education Health and Care plans (EHCPs) and extended the provision of support from birth to 25 years of age. In addition, the National Trial which began in April 2018 enabled the Tribunal to make non-binding recommendations on the health and social care elements of the EHC plan. Those provisions were mainstreamed with effect from 1 September 2021.

Figure 8.1: Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) receipts, disposals and open caseload Q3 2021/22 to Q3 2025/26 (Source: Tables S_2, S_3, and S_4)

9. Further information

Rounding convention

Figures greater than 10,000 are rounded to the nearest 1,000, those between 1,000 and 10,000 are rounded to the nearest 100 and those between 100 to 1,000 are rounded to the nearest 10. Less than 100 are given as the actual number.

Accompanying files

As well as this bulletin, the following products are published as part of this release and can be accessed through the collection page here:

  • A supporting document providing further information on how the data is collected and processed, as well as information on the revisions policy and legislation relevant to trends and background on the functioning of the tribunal system.

  • The quality statement published with this guide sets out our policies for producing quality statistical outputs for the information we provide to maintain our users’ understanding and trust.

  • A set of overview tables, covering each section of this bulletin.

  • A set of CSV files including data on overall receipts and disposals, covering all tribunal types and venue level data for SSCS and FTTIAC.

  • Additional releases this quarter:

    • Update to the statistical notice on Immigration and Asylum (I&A) Detained Immigration Appeals (DIA) to include data to Q3 2025/26.

Future publications

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.

Official Statistics

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.

Contact

Press office - email: pressofficecourtslaw@justice.gov.uk

Other enquiries and feedback on these statistics should be directed to the Courts and People division of the Ministry of Justice:

Laura Davis or Daisy Slade - email: CAJS@justice.gov.uk

Next update: 11 June 2026 (URL: www.gov.uk/government/collections/tribunals-statistics)

© Crown copyright Produced by the Ministry of Justice

For any feedback on the layout or content of this publication or requests for alternative formats, please contact CAJS@justice.gov.uk

  1. The interim totals for the overall volumes of tribunal receipts, disposals and open caseload exclude the Upper Tribunal (Immigration and Asylum Chamber) for which the data is currently not available. See the main tables S_2, S_3 and S_4 for more information. ↩ ↩2

  2. Includes single and multiple Employment Tribunal claims. ↩

  3. Open caseload is based on a snapshot in time based on the last day of each quarter. ↩

Back to top