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What happens if you're given a community sentence or community service. Find out about Community Payback and the rules of your community sentence.

• Overview

  You may get a community sentence if you’re convicted of a crime by a court…

• Community Payback

  Community Payback is unpaid work like: removing graffiti clearing…

• Treatment and programmes

  The treatment or programmes you get are intended to help with problems…

• What you can and cannot do while on a community sentence

  What you can and cannot do while on a community sentence is decided by: a…

• Community sentences if you are under 18

  Community sentences for young people are different from those given to…

The range of prison sentences a court can give - including suspended, fixed-term, indeterminate and life sentences.

• Concurrent and consecutive sentences

  If you’re sent to prison for 2 or more crimes, you’ll usually get a…

• Suspended prison sentences

  A suspended prison sentence is served in the community instead of in…

• Determinate prison sentences

  A determinate prison sentence is for a fixed length of time. It includes a…

• Indeterminate prison sentences

  An indeterminate prison sentence does not have a fixed length of time.…

• Life sentences

  If you’re found guilty of murder, a court must give you a life sentence. A…

• Sentences for children and young people under 18

  If you’re under 18 you’ll be treated differently to adults by a court. You…

Probation is when you serve a court sentence in the community, and can include unpaid work or being supervised after coming out of prison

• Overview

  Probation means you’re serving your sentence but you’re not in prison. You…

• Meetings with your offender manager

  When you’re on probation you may have meetings with your offender manager.…

• If you break the rules of your probation

  You could go back to court if you break any rules of your probation. For…

• Being taken back to prison

  You can be taken straight back to prison if you have been released on…

• Ask to be released again on probation

  If you have been taken back to prison and think you should be released on…

How a prisoner is released - including Parole Board hearings, resettlement schemes and temporary release on licence

If you are found guilty of a crime, your sentence will depend on a number of factors, including the type, seriousness and circumstances of the crime.

When to tell a potential employer, university, college or insurance company about a criminal record, when it becomes 'spent' and what shows up on a DBS check.

What happens if you're charged with a crime. Find out about the hearing, when you can be released on bail and being put in custody (on remand).

How to appeal a decision by a Crown Court. Find out which forms you'll need and what the appeal process involves.

Who can get parole for determinate and indeterminate sentences, represent yourself at a hearing and challenge a Parole Board decision

Apply for parole if you're a young offender - who can apply, how to apply, help with parole, appeal against a decision