Suspended Sentence Orders
Key Facts and Statistics
by Raphael Freund & Annalena Wolcke
Published: 12 Nov 2025
Last updated: Feb 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.
48,949
SUSPENDED SENTENCE ORDERS WERE IMPOSED IN 20241
In law, Suspended Sentence Orders are considered a sentence of imprisonment.
Fact 2
Suspended Sentence
Orders made up
4%
of all primary
sentences imposed in
England & Wales in 2024
Fact 3
Most common requirements attached to Suspended Sentence Orders3
| Proportion of all SSOs (April 2024 – March 2025) | |
|---|---|
| 1. Rehabilitation and unpaid work | 24% |
| 2. Rehabilitation | 22% |
| 3. Unpaid work | 10% |
| 4. Rehabilitation and drug treatment | 6% |
| 5. Accredited programme and rehabilitation | 4% |
| 6. Accredited programme, rehabilitation, and unpaid work | 4% |
Fact 4
Top 6 offences leading to
a Suspended Sentence Order
| Individuals sentenced in 2024 | |
|---|---|
| 1. Theft from a shop | 5,076 |
| 2. Knife possession (having an article with a blade or point in public) | 3,624 |
| 3. Assault occasioning actual bodily harm | 2,974 |
| 4. Production, supply and possession with intent to supply a controlled drug – Class A | 2,534 |
| 5. Dangerous driving | 1,928 |
| 6. Assault of an emergency worker | 1,857 |
Fact 5
and
sentenced received a Suspended Sentence Order in 2024
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 MoJ 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 a.wolcke@sentencingacademy.org.uk
- Facts 1-5: Data calculated from Ministry of Justice (2025), Criminal Justice Statistics Quarterly: December 2024, published 15th of May. Outcomes by offence data tool, Table 2. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-justice-system-statistics-quarterly-december-2024. ↩︎
- Data source for fact 2 (average length): Offender Management Statistics Bulletin, England and Wales, published 24 of April, 2025, p. 22. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/680a2271532adcaaab3a273e/OMSQ_Q4_2024.pdf ↩︎
- Fact 3: 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 6.3. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/offender-management-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2025. ↩︎
- 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 Ministry of Justice (2025), Offender management statistics quarterly: January to March 2025, published 31 July. Probation Statistics: January to March 2025, Table 6.10. https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/offender-management-statistics-quarterly-january-to-march-2025. ↩︎