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Produced by the Sentencing Academy

Community Orders

Key Facts and Statistics

by Annalena Wolcke

Published: 9 Jan 2026

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Fact 1

A Community Order is served in the community under the supervision of probation services. Offenders serving community orders must comply with any requirements imposed by the court. These may include unpaid work or a curfew. All community orders must include a requirement imposed for the purpose of punishment.

65,557

COMMUNITY ORDERS WERE IMPOSED IN 20241

Community Orders make up

6%

of all primary
sentences imposed in
England & Wales

Fact 2

The use of Community Orders has been declining since 20102

Fact 3

The average number of requirements attached to a Community Order in 2023 was

1.6

The average length of a Community Order in 2023 was

13.6 MONTHS3

Fact 4

Relative Frequency of Requirements
Imposed, 20244

Percent of Cases
1. Rehabilitation74%
2. Unpaid work50%
3. Accredited Programme9%
4. Drug treatment8%
5. Alcohol treatment7%

Fact 5

Top 5 offences leading to
Community Orders

Individuals
sentenced in 2024		Proportion of Cases
1. Driving while under the influence of drink or drugs8,63113%
2. Theft from shops (shoplifting)8,44813%
3. Common assault and battery6,46210%
4. Assault of an emergency worker4,8027%
5. Driving licence related offences – summary2,6594%

Fact 6

of all women

and

of all men

sentenced received a Community Order in 2024

Fact 7

Re-offending rates (2023)5

For all sentences: 27%

For Community Orders: 38%

For Suspended Sentence Orders: 27%

For prison sentences < 12 months: 60%

Note: The MoJ defines reoffending as any offence committed in a one-year follow-up period that leads to a court conviction, caution, reprimand, or warning.

Fact 8

Outcomes of Community Orders (2024)6

Legend:

  • Completed Successfully
  • Terminated A: Terminated early for good progress
  • Terminated B: Terminated early for failure to comply with requirements
  • Terminated C: Terminated early for conviction of new offence
  • Terminated D: Terminated early for other reasons

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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 a.wolcke@sentencingacademy.org.uk

  1. Facts 1, 5-6: Data calculated from Ministry of Justice (2025), Criminal Justice Statistics Quarterly: December 2024, published 15 of May. Outcomes by offence data tool, Table 2.
    https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2024 ↩︎
  2. Fact 2: Data calculated from Ministry of Justice (2021, 2024, 2025), various Criminal justice system statistics quarterly editions. Outcomes by Offence data tool.
    https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-justice-statistics-quarterly.
    Note: Compensation, otherwise dealt with, and ‘disposal not known’ are excluded from the calculations. ↩︎
  3. Data sources for Fact 3:
    1) Ministry of Justice (2024), Offender management statistics quarterly: October to December 2023,
    published 25th of April. Probation: October to December 2023, Table A6.7.
    https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/66290a3ab0ace32985a7e6cd/Probation-2023.ods;
    2) Ministry of Justice (2024), Offender management statistics quarterly: October to December 2023 and annual 2023, published 25 of April. Probation. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/662909cfb0ace32985a7e6ca/Probation-Oct-to-Dec-2023.ods ↩︎
  4. Data source for fact 4: Ministry of Justice (2025) Offender management statistics quarterly: October to December 2024, Probation: 2024, Table A6.9.
    https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6807c3c83bdfd1243078e6f2/probation-2024.ods. ↩︎
  5. Fact 7: Data calculated from Ministry of Justice (2025). Proven reoffending statistics: October to December 2023, published 30 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 ↩︎
  6. Fact 8: Data calculated from Ministry of Justice (2025), Offender management statistics quarterly: January to March 2025, published 31 July. Probation Statistics: January to March 2025, Table 6.10a. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/offender-management-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2025 ↩︎