Last Updated on September 16, 2026 by Karl Thompson
Courts decide how criminals should be punished in England and Wales. In 2025, 77% of offenders sentenced received a fine as their punishment. Only around 7% were sent straight to prison.
Sentencing in England and Wales
Sentencing in England and Wales takes place in either a magistrates’ court or a Crown Court.
Magistrates’ courts deal with less serious offences. These are presided over by magistrates, who are ordinary citizens who take on the role voluntarily. Since 18 November 2024, the maximum prison term a magistrates’ court can give for a single either-way offence is 12 months, up from 6 months (Sentencing Act 2020 (Magistrates’ Court Sentencing Powers) (Amendment) Regulations 2024). Either-way offences are those that can be tried in either kind of court.
Crown Courts deal with more serious offences. These are presided over by professional judges, who have much wider powers to pass longer prison sentences than magistrates.
When sentencing, the court will take into account the following factors:
- How serious the offence is
- Whether the defendant pleaded guilty or not guilty
- The defendant’s character, personal circumstances and any criminal record
Source: Ministry of Justice, Criminal Justice System statistics. 1,149,250 offenders were sentenced in 2024.
Discharges
Judges award discharges for the most minor offences. With a discharge the offender is still found guilty and still gets a criminal record.
An offender can receive either an absolute or conditional discharge.
With an absolute discharge the offender is effectively free to go with no further punishment or conditions.
A conditional discharge means that if the offender commits another crime, they can be sentenced for their first offence along with that one.
Alongside a discharge an offender may also get a disqualification order, a compensation order and/or court costs.
In 2022 only 2% of offenders received a discharge. In fact, with an absolute discharge, going to court is the only real punishment.
Fines
Fines are the most common form of punishment in England and Wales.
How large a fine will be depends on how serious the crime is and the offender’s capacity to pay.
Technically the courts can set unlimited fines, but guidelines for amounts vary for different crimes.
In 2025, 77% of the 1.20 million offenders sentenced received a fine. Most of these were for driving: summary motoring offences accounted for 76% of all fines issued, and the average fine for a motoring offence was £327 (Ministry of Justice, 2026).
So when you read that most offenders are fined, bear in mind that “most offenders” here are mostly drivers – untaxed, uninsured or speeding – rather than the burglars you might be picturing.
Community Sentences
Community sentences involve punishments carried out within the community and require the offender to actively do something.
Examples of community service include:
- Doing up to 300 hours of unpaid work.
- Taking part in programmes to change behaviour.
- Getting treatment for mental health issues or undertaking rehabilitation for drugs or alcohol.
- Refraining from doing certain things. This may include curfews, avoiding certain places or not travelling abroad.
There are generally three aims for community service: to punish, to change behaviour and to pay back the community.
In 2024, 74,847 offenders (6.5%) received a community sentence as their punishment.
Custodial Sentences
Custodial sentences are given for the most serious crimes, such as violent crimes, weapons offences and drug trafficking.
There are different maximum sentences depending on the crime, and some crimes carry minimum custodial terms. For example, if you threaten someone with a weapon there is a minimum six month sentence.
Some offences also have a ‘three strike’ rule. For example, after your third domestic burglary, the minimum sentence is three years.
There are four types of custodial sentence:
- Suspended sentences. A judge may decide to suspend a prison sentence. If the offender complies with all the conditions set and doesn’t offend again for the term of the sentence, they won’t go to jail. If they commit a further offence during their suspended sentence, they will most likely serve the original custodial term. Since 22 March 2026, sentences of up to three years can be suspended (previously two years), and for sentences of 12 months or less there is now a presumption that the sentence will be suspended unless there are exceptional circumstances (Sentencing Act 2026, sections 1 and 2).
- Determinate sentences. Here the judge specifies the maximum length of time an offender could spend in jail. Offenders are released automatically part-way through and serve the rest on licence. Until recently most were released at the halfway point or at 40%, and those serving longer sentences for serious violent or sexual offences at two-thirds. The Sentencing Act 2026 is moving these to an ‘earned progression’ model, with automatic release at one-third for most prisoners and at halfway for the serious violent and sexual group. The first changes were due to start on 1 October 2026 (Prison Reform Trust).
- Extended sentences. These are for more serious offences. Here offenders may apply for parole after they have served two-thirds of their sentence.
- Life sentences. These are for the most serious offences such as murder and terrorism. Here the judge sets a minimum term which depends on the offence. The offender then serves that term and then may apply for parole. They remain ‘on licence’ for the rest of their lives and can be recalled to jail at any time. In the most serious cases judges may pass whole life orders. At 31 March 2025 there were around 70 people in jail for the rest of their lives (Sentencing Council, using Ministry of Justice figures).
In 2024, 48,949 offenders (4.3%) received a suspended sentence and 79,812 (6.9%) were sent straight to prison.
In 2025, 88,100 offenders were sentenced to immediate custody, the highest number since 2017. Most prison sentences are short: 58% were for less than 12 months, and the average custodial sentence was 19.9 months (Ministry of Justice, 2026).
Disposal Orders
For people with limited mental capacity the court may make a disposal order. This is where they are put in a hospital for treatment or under guardianship.
Ancillary Orders
In addition to any of the above punishments, the court may also impose ancillary orders. These are further conditions offenders need to meet.
They include such things as restraining orders, criminal behaviour orders and driving bans.
Why the types of punishment matter for A-level sociology
On their own, the types of sentence are description. They become useful in the exam when you link them to the debates about what punishment is for and whether it works.
- The aims of punishment. Fines and prison are usually justified by deterrence and retribution, prison also by incapacitation, and community sentences by rehabilitation and paying back the community. These aims, and what each sociological perspective makes of them, are covered in sociological perspectives on punishment.
- Whether prison works. Short prison sentences have much higher reoffending rates than community sentences. HOWEVER, the people given each sentence are different, so the raw figures can’t be compared directly. The evidence, and why the government now presumes short sentences should be suspended, is in does prison work?
- Alternatives to punishment. Restorative justice brings offenders and victims together, and can be used alongside the sentences above.
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Signposting
This material is mainly relevant to the A-level sociology Crime and Deviance module, examined on AQA Paper 3 (7192/3).
It should enable students to evaluate sociological perspectives on punishment.
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