Pre-Sentence Reports
Key Facts and Statistics
by Raphael Freund & Annalena Wolcke
Published: 14 Nov 2025
Fact 1
Pre-Sentence Reports (PSRs), which are prepared by the Probation Service, provide information about a defendant’s personal circumstances before they are sentenced.
99,006
PRE-SENTENCE REPORTS WERE ISSUED IN 20241
Fact 2
The Sentencing Council States:
“When considering a community or custodial sentence,
the court must request and consider a pre-sentence
report (PSR) before forming an opinion of the
sentence, unless it considers that it is unnecessary to
obtain a pre-sentence report.”
Pre-sentence reports are rare in practice:
Note: The stated frequency of PSRs is an estimation based on available data. The value of 99,006 is taken from the Q4 2024 version of the Offender Management Statistics Bulletin, England and Wales. The 1,149,250 value is taken from Criminal Justice System Statistics: Outcomes by Offence data tool (both accessed 29th of September, 2025).
Fact 3
The frequency of pre-sentence reports has declined over the last decade.
- Maximum: 159,278 in 20153
- Minimum: 66,077 in 2020
Note: The steep drop in 2020 is likely attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Fact 4
A higher proportion of men receive PSRs compared to women.
In 2024, men accounted for 79% of all sentences
and 86% of pre-sentence reports.
By contrast, women accounted for 21% of all sentences,
but only 14% of pre-sentence reports.
Note: This comparison does not account for gender differences in offending,
which might itself be related to PSR issuance. For example, men account for
92% of indictable-only offences, but only 76% of summary offences (women:
8% and 24%, respectively).
Fact 5
Sentence concordance varies by sentence type
Sentence Outcome | Sentence Proposed by PSR (April 2024 – March 2025) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Immediate custody | Community Order | Fine | Discharge | |
| Immediate Custody | 88% | 15% | 2% | 1% |
| Suspended Sentence Order | 9% | 35% | 17% | 10% |
| Community Order | 3% | 47% | 17% | 16% |
| Fine | 0% | 1% | 56% | 25% |
| Discharge | 0% | 0% | 5% | 46% |
Note: Sentence concordance refers to the frequency with which sentence
outcomes (rows in the above table) match the PSR’s proposed sentence (columns). For instance, in 88% of cases where a PSR recommended immediate custody, the court ended up sentencing the offender to immediate custody. In 9% of cases where immediate custody was recommended, the court settled on a suspended sentence order.
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
- Data source for fact 1: Robinson, G., Pre-Sentence Reports, published April 2022.
https://www.sentencingacademy.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Pre-Sentence-Reports.pdf;
Data source for facts 1-2: Offender Management Statistics Bulletin, England and Wales, Q4 2024 edition, published 24 of April, 2025. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/680a2271532adcaaab3a273e/OMSQ_Q4_2024.pdf ↩︎ - Data source for fact 2: Sentencing Council, Imposition of community and custodial sentences, published September 2025.
https://sentencingcouncil.org.uk/guidelines/imposition-of-community-and-custodial-sentences/#header_4;
Data source for facts 2, 4: Criminal Justice Statistics Quarterly December 2024, published 15 of May, https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2024 ↩︎ - Data sources for fact 3-5: Offender Management Statistics Quarterly (Collection), published 25 of July, 2013; last updated 31 of July, 2025. https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/offender-managementstatistics-quarterly ↩︎