Suspended Sentence Orders
Key Facts and Statistics
by Annalena Wolcke & Raphael Freund
Last updated: Jul 2026
Fact 1
A court can suspend a custodial sentence of between 14 days and 3 years for a period of up to 3 years.
52,926
ADULTS RECEIVED A SUSPENDED SENTENCE ORDER IN 20251
In law, Suspended Sentence Orders are considered a sentence of imprisonment.
Fact 2
Suspended Sentence Orders made up
of all primary sentences imposed in England & Wales in 2025.
In 2025, the average length of a Suspended Sentence Order was2
17.9
MONTHS
Fact 3
Most common requirements attached to Suspended Sentence Orders3
| Proportion of all SSOs (2025) | |
|---|---|
| 1. Rehabilitation | 86% |
| 2. Unpaid work | 48% |
| 3. Accredited programme | 11% |
| 4. Drug treatment | 9% |
| 5. Alcohol abstinence and monitoring | 7% |
The average number of requirements attached to SSOs in 2025 was 1.8.
Note: SSOs do not have to have any requirements attached. However, the Ministry of Justice does not provide data on the proportions of SSOs imposed with and without requirements.
Fact 4
Top 6 offences leading to
a Suspended Sentence Order
| Individuals sentenced in 2025 | |
|---|---|
| 1. Theft from a shop (shoplifting) | 5,779 |
| 2. Knife possession (having an article with a blade or point) | 3,586 |
| 3. Assault occasioning actual bodily harm | 2,893 |
| 4. Production, supply and possession with intent to supply a controlled drug – Class A | 2,694 |
| 5. Dangerous driving | 1,943 |
| 6. Taking, permitting to be taken or making, distributing or publishing indecent photographs or pseudo photographs of children | 1,881 |
Fact 5
4% of all women
6% of all men
sentenced received a Suspended Sentence Order in 2025.
Fact 6
Re-offending Rates (2023)
For all sentences: 27%4
For Suspended Sentence Orders: 27%
For prison sentences: 39%
For Community Orders: 38%
Note: The Ministry of Justice defines reoffending as any offence committed in a one-year follow-up period that leads to a court conviction, caution, reprimand, or warning.
This infographic is one of a series on sentencing trends in England & Wales. Others can be found here. For further information, contact Annalena Wolcke at [email protected]
- Facts 1-2, 4-5: Data calculated from Ministry of Justice (2026), Criminal Justice Statistics Quarterly: December 2025, published 30th of April. Outcomes by offence data tool, Table 2. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-statistics-quarterly-december-2025. ↩︎
- Data source for fact 2 (average length): MoJ (2026). Offender management statistics quarterly: October to December 2025. Probation: 2025. Table 6.2d. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/offender-management-statistics-quarterly. ↩︎
- Fact 3: Data calculated from MoJ (2026). Offender management statistics quarterly: October to December 2025, Probation: 2025, Tables 6.7c and 6.9b. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69eff92e08ecdb5c6f34b020/probation-2025.ods. ↩︎
- Fact 6: Data calculated from Ministry of Justice (2025). Proven reoffending statistics: October to December 2023, published 30th of October. Proven reoffending tables (3 monthly), October 2023 to December 2023, Table C1a.
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/proven-reoffending-statistics-october-to-december-2023. ↩︎ - Fact 7: Data calculated from MoJ (2026). Offender management statistics quarterly: October to December 2025, Probation: 2025, Table 6.22d. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/69eff92e08ecdb5c6f34b020/probation-2025.ods. ↩︎