What is the average prison sentence in the UK?

For England and Wales, the Ministry of Justice publishes the average custodial sentence length (ACSL) every quarter in Criminal Justice Statistics, broken down by offence group, court and offender characteristics. The latest edition, published 30 July 2026, covers April 2025 to March 2026. Its data tools let you look up a specific offence such as manslaughter, robbery or assault.

ACSL counts only fixed-length (determinate) prison sentences: life and other indeterminate sentences are excluded, as are suspended sentences. It measures the sentence handed down, not the time served, as most prisoners are released on licence part-way through.

Scotland publishes average sentence lengths in its Criminal Proceedings in Scotland statistics. See our MoJ statistics guide.

Official sources: Criminal justice statistics quarterly (MoJ) · Criminal proceedings in Scotland

The latest figure

The newest value is at Ministry of Justice and HM Prison and Probation Service. More on it: Prison population (England and Wales).

When is the next figure out?

Published weekly, usually on the Monday it describes. Machine route: the GOV.UK Content API (no key) for the publication returns JSON listing each weekly .ods attachment, newest first; the .ods 'Data' sheet holds the figures. The publication URL changes each calendar year (…-2026)

Every official release due in the next two weeks is on the release calendar.

Terms used in this answer

• Proven reoffending rate
  The share of offenders who commit another offence within a year that leads to a court conviction or caution. Published by the Ministry of Justice.
• Prison operational capacity
  The maximum number of prisoners a prison or the whole estate can hold while maintaining good order, security and the proper running of the regime.
• Custodial sentence
  A sentence that sends an offender to prison or a young offender institution. Most adults serve part of the sentence in custody and the rest on licence in the community.
• Community order
  A sentence served in the community, with one or more requirements such as unpaid work, a curfew or treatment, instead of prison.
• Headcount
  A count of individual people, each counted once regardless of how many hours they work or how many posts they hold.
• England and Wales
  A single legal jurisdiction, so crime, courts, prisons and death registration statistics are often published for England and Wales together.

Where the figures come from

• Find Case Law, legislation.gov.uk, the Sentencing Council and UK court records
  How to search UK court judgments on Find Case Law, check if a law is in force on legislation.gov.uk, and read sentencing, tribunal and CPS data.
• Ministry of Justice statistics, police.uk and data.police.uk
  Find official prison population, Crown Court caseload, reoffending and legal aid figures, plus street-level crime from data.police.uk, and how to use them.

Related questions

• Where can I find the sentencing guidelines for an offence?
• What is the conviction rate in the UK?
• What is the UK prison population?

This answer says where the official figures are published and how they are defined. It gives no verdict on any claim. To report an error, send a correction request. More questions about courts, judgments and the law: all Courts, judgments and the law questions.