Court Guide · Sources checked 13 September 2026 · England and Wales · national court proceedings
Reporting period: Calendar years 2021–2025
Court proceedings use their own counting rules, including principal-offence rules where specified. Counts of defendants, convictions and sentences are not interchangeable.
Sentencing outcomes
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| Measure | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All offence types · Sentenced total · 1,245,103 · 1,239,337 · 1,215,632 · 1,209,265 · 1,196,291 · 820,756 | 953,776 | 1,048,173 | 1,115,395 | 1,184,201 | 1,200,478 |
| All offence types · Immediate custody · 90,095 · 89,740 · 91,375 · 83,677 · 77,167 · 60,862 | 64,132 | 65,039 | 72,369 | 80,645 | 88,091 |
| All offence types · Suspended sentence · 57,068 · 56,399 · 56,042 · 44,605 · 40,489 · 36,186 | 43,461 | 41,172 | 44,201 | 49,473 | 52,928 |
| All offence types · Community sentence · 110,751 · 99,858 · 96,622 · 92,125 · 87,709 · 62,253 | 71,246 | 69,760 | 70,970 | 75,236 | 77,574 |
| All offence types · Fine · 891,497 · 912,903 · 905,777 · 931,898 · 936,730 · 624,973 | 735,328 | 834,604 | 886,416 | 931,097 | 928,713 |
| All offence types · Absolute discharge · 8,979 · 4,732 · 5,188 · 4,087 · 4,555 · 1,914 | 2,544 | 2,249 | 2,783 | 3,038 | 3,241 |
| All offence types · Conditional discharge · 66,062 · 55,533 · 47,388 · 40,471 · 37,132 · 25,426 | 26,143 | 23,909 | 24,640 | 27,041 | 27,563 |
| All offence types · Compensation · 5,239 · 4,744 · 3,729 · 3,633 · 3,338 · 2,472 | 2,823 | 2,905 | 3,548 | 4,505 | 5,576 |
| All offence types · Otherwise dealt with · 15,342 · 15,358 · 9,506 · 8,755 · 9,153 · 6,656 | 8,081 | 8,522 | 10,457 | 13,149 | 16,788 |
| All offence types · Disposal not known · 70 · 70 · 5 · 14 · 18 · 14 | 18 | 13 | 11 | 17 | 4 |
| All offence types · Average custodial sentence length (months) · 16.3 · 16.4 · 18.0 · 18.5 · 18.6 · 17.0 | 20.7 | 20.4 | 21.3 | 20.3 | 19.9 |
| Indictable only · Sentenced total · 14,298 · 13,549 · 15,393 · 13,926 · 12,629 · 9,785 | 11,546 | 10,732 | 12,173 | 12,661 | 12,830 |
| Indictable only · Immediate custody · 10,550 · 10,216 · 11,721 · 10,639 · 9,399 · 6,799 | 8,390 | 7,879 | 9,010 | 9,019 | 9,445 |
| Indictable only · Suspended sentence · 1,710 · 1,468 · 1,845 · 1,494 · 1,304 · 1,209 | 1,385 | 1,261 | 1,340 | 1,561 | 1,482 |
| Indictable only · Community sentence · 1,493 · 1,313 · 1,478 · 1,467 · 1,607 · 1,525 | 1,461 | 1,262 | 1,446 | 1,701 | 1,563 |
| Indictable only · Fine · 47 · 24 · 27 · 19 · 26 · 13 | 18 | 16 | 24 | 19 | 14 |
| Indictable only · Absolute discharge · 8 · 8 · 23 · 7 · 11 · 4 | 15 | 23 | 27 | 24 | 26 |
| Indictable only · Conditional discharge · 53 · 47 · 52 · 40 · 35 · 49 | 57 | 37 | 41 | 62 | 52 |
| Indictable only · Compensation · 7 · 4 · 3 · 8 · 3 · 3 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 2 |
| Indictable only · Otherwise dealt with · 426 · 467 · 239 · 238 · 226 · 169 | 199 | 239 | 270 | 255 | 242 |
| Indictable only · Disposal not known · 4 · 2 · 5 · 14 · 18 · 14 | 18 | 13 | 11 | 17 | 4 |
| Indictable only · Average custodial sentence length (months) · 55.6 · 56.8 · 59.8 · 61.9 · 62.7 · 57.3 | 64.8 | 64.7 | 67.1 | 70.2 | 71.1 |
| Triable either way · Sentenced total · 249,234 · 228,806 · 223,188 · 199,540 · 196,116 · 151,873 | 167,087 | 163,046 | 180,155 | 203,769 | 221,681 |
| Triable either way · Immediate custody · 63,812 · 63,734 · 65,808 · 60,334 · 57,682 · 45,963 | 47,512 | 48,834 | 55,468 | 62,977 | 69,039 |
| Triable either way · Suspended sentence · 39,861 · 38,596 · 40,270 · 32,352 · 31,163 · 27,968 | 33,650 | 32,038 | 35,383 | 40,365 | 43,305 |
| Triable either way · Community sentence · 52,522 · 45,297 · 49,708 · 47,122 · 48,107 · 34,348 | 38,822 | 37,613 | 40,573 | 43,938 | 44,990 |
| Triable either way · Fine · 47,097 · 43,205 · 38,660 · 35,375 · 35,827 · 27,259 | 30,428 | 28,293 | 29,548 | 33,335 | 37,218 |
| Triable either way · Absolute discharge · 2,165 · 974 · 753 · 689 · 588 · 432 | 453 | 441 | 533 | 671 | 711 |
| Triable either way · Conditional discharge · 31,536 · 25,640 · 22,219 · 18,288 · 17,356 · 11,859 | 11,934 | 10,954 | 11,853 | 13,321 | 14,580 |
| Triable either way · Compensation · 2,147 · 1,758 · 1,531 · 1,386 · 1,418 · 994 | 1,134 | 1,253 | 1,688 | 2,536 | 3,491 |
| Triable either way · Otherwise dealt with · 10,069 · 9,584 · 4,239 · 3,994 · 3,975 · 3,050 | 3,154 | 3,620 | 5,109 | 6,626 | 8,347 |
| Triable either way · Disposal not known · 25 · 18 · 0 · 0 · 0 · 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Triable either way · Average custodial sentence length (months) · 13.3 · 13.6 · 14.0 · 14.6 · 14.6 · 13.9 | 16.5 | 16.7 | 17 | 15.8 | 15.5 |
| Summary non-motoring · Sentenced total · 426,891 · 410,130 · 378,812 · 370,098 · 355,206 · 200,145 | 218,718 | 238,805 | 256,423 | 262,678 | 228,869 |
| Summary non-motoring · Immediate custody · 12,480 · 12,175 · 10,426 · 9,379 · 6,847 · 5,645 | 5,344 | 5,298 | 5,165 | 5,948 | 6,592 |
| Summary non-motoring · Suspended sentence · 11,247 · 11,106 · 9,215 · 6,748 · 4,444 · 3,724 | 3,952 | 3,561 | 3,265 | 3,278 | 3,471 |
| Summary non-motoring · Community sentence · 44,602 · 40,362 · 32,662 · 29,731 · 23,037 · 15,014 | 16,210 | 15,718 | 14,136 | 13,829 | 14,677 |
| Summary non-motoring · Fine · 315,264 · 310,034 · 294,814 · 296,684 · 295,748 · 159,540 | 176,455 | 198,532 | 217,589 | 221,955 | 186,649 |
| Summary non-motoring · Absolute discharge · 4,247 · 1,954 · 2,628 · 1,711 · 2,269 · 643 | 680 | 547 | 885 | 900 | 874 |
| Summary non-motoring · Conditional discharge · 32,745 · 28,235 · 23,550 · 20,643 · 18,215 · 12,128 | 12,643 | 11,605 | 11,104 | 11,773 | 11,104 |
| Summary non-motoring · Compensation · 2,967 · 2,835 · 2,051 · 2,115 · 1,841 · 1,456 | 1,619 | 1,468 | 1,582 | 1,742 | 1,766 |
| Summary non-motoring · Otherwise dealt with · 3,298 · 3,380 · 3,466 · 3,087 · 2,805 · 1,995 | 1,815 | 2,076 | 2,697 | 3,253 | 3,736 |
| Summary non-motoring · Disposal not known · 41 · 49 · 0 · 0 · 0 · 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Summary non-motoring · Average custodial sentence length (months) · 2.5 · 2.4 · 2.5 · 2.5 · 2.6 · 2.5 | 2.5 | 2.4 | 2.3 | 2.2 | 2.3 |
| Summary motoring · Sentenced total · 554,680 · 586,852 · 598,237 · 625,701 · 632,339 · 458,953 | 556,425 | 635,590 | 666,643 | 705,093 | 737,098 |
| Summary motoring · Immediate custody · 3,253 · 3,615 · 3,420 · 3,325 · 3,239 · 2,455 | 2,886 | 3,028 | 2,726 | 2,701 | 3,015 |
| Summary motoring · Suspended sentence · 4,250 · 5,229 · 4,712 · 4,011 · 3,578 · 3,285 | 4,474 | 4,312 | 4,213 | 4,269 | 4,670 |
| Summary motoring · Community sentence · 12,134 · 12,886 · 12,774 · 13,805 · 14,958 · 11,366 | 14,753 | 15,167 | 14,815 | 15,768 | 16,344 |
| Summary motoring · Fine · 529,089 · 559,640 · 572,274 · 599,820 · 605,128 · 438,161 | 528,427 | 607,763 | 639,254 | 675,788 | 704,832 |
| Summary motoring · Absolute discharge · 2,559 · 1,796 · 1,784 · 1,680 · 1,687 · 835 | 1,396 | 1,238 | 1,338 | 1,443 | 1,630 |
| Summary motoring · Conditional discharge · 1,728 · 1,611 · 1,567 · 1,500 · 1,526 · 1,390 | 1,509 | 1,313 | 1,642 | 1,885 | 1,827 |
| Summary motoring · Compensation · 118 · 147 · 144 · 124 · 76 · 19 | 67 | 182 | 274 | 224 | 317 |
| Summary motoring · Otherwise dealt with · 1,549 · 1,927 · 1,562 · 1,436 · 2,147 · 1,442 | 2,913 | 2,587 | 2,381 | 3,015 | 4,463 |
| Summary motoring · Disposal not known · 0 · 1 · 0 · 0 · 0 · 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Summary motoring · Average custodial sentence length (months) · 3.0 · 2.9 · 3.1 · 2.9 · 2.9 · 2.9 | 2.8 | 2.8 | 2.7 | 2.7 | 2.7 |
| Offence unknown · Sentenced total · 729 · 417 · 2 · 0 · 1 · 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Offence unknown · Immediate custody · 261 · 143 · 0 · 0 · 0 · 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Offence unknown · Suspended sentence · 4 · 5 · 0 · 0 · 0 · 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Offence unknown · Community sentence · 4 · 0 · 0 · 0 · 0 · 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Offence unknown · Fine · 425 · 249 · 2 · 0 · 1 · 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Offence unknown · Absolute discharge · 0 · 0 · 0 · 0 · 0 · 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Offence unknown · Conditional discharge · 0 · 1 · 0 · 0 · 0 · 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Offence unknown · Compensation · 0 · 0 · 0 · 0 · 0 · 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Offence unknown · Otherwise dealt with · 35 · 19 · 0 · 0 · 0 · 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Offence unknown · Disposal not known · 0 · 0 · 0 · 0 · 0 · 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
How to interpret these figures
Cases can enter and finish in different years. These tables cannot be divided by police recorded crime totals to give a conviction probability.
Court outcomes describe completed proceedings, not the legal strength of a current allegation. Changes can reflect case mix, court activity and recording improvements. Consult the table notes before comparing categories.
Useful next steps
Practical help: criminal justice outcomes
These national statistics describe the work recorded in the criminal justice system. They are useful for understanding trends, but cannot predict an individual prosecution, verdict or sentence.
Understand the unit being counted
Tables can count defendants, proceedings, convictions or sentences. Principal-offence rules mean a record may represent the most serious offence rather than every charge. Read the measure label and original notes before adding or comparing values.
Avoid false conversion rates
Cases can begin in one year and finish in another. Police offence records cannot be matched to these court totals, so dividing convictions by recorded crimes would create a misleading rate.
Official guidance and related resources
Data sources
- Criminal Justice Statistics Quarterly: December 2025 · checked 13 September 2026
Figures retain the source’s units and periods. Unknown or suppressed values are not treated as zero. Methods and coverage · Report a correction.