List of prisons in the United Kingdom

List of prisons in the United Kingdom is a list of all 142 current prisons as of 2024 in the United Kingdom spread across the three UK legal systems of England and Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Also included are a number of historical prisons no longer in current use.

Prisons, prison services, prison population and prisoner categories

England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

Public Sector prisons in England and Wales are managed by His Majesty's Prison Service, which is part of the His Majesty's Prison and Probation Service, an executive agency of the United Kingdom government. In addition, since the 1990s the day-to-day running of a number of previously existing prisons, as well as several new facilities, has been "contracted out" to private companies, such as Serco and G4S. All prisons in England and Wales, whether publicly or privately run, are inspected by His Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons. Prisons in Scotland are run by the Scottish Prison Service and prisons in Northern Ireland are run by the Northern Ireland Prison Service.
The following tables below list all current and some historical prisons and Young Offender Institutions in use in the three UK legal systems of England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland as of 2022. The majority house adult males, and are operated by each legal systems respective public prison service, although a small number are operated by private prison companies. There are also a small number of adult female prisons and youth prisons/secure children's units for those under 18.

Population

As of 2021, the total prison population of the UK stands at roughly 87,000, one of the largest in the Western world. With the increasing population, law changes resulting in longer prison sentences and a national government prison building program to build 20,000 more prison spaces by the mid 2020s the total UK prison population is expected to increase to almost 110,000 by 2026.

United Kingdom prisoner categories and establishment types

In the UK adult prisoners are divided into 4 security categories depending on certain factors such as the offences they have been convicted or accused of, their likelihood of attempting an escape, the threat they would pose if they escaped, their length of sentence, and any of their previous criminal convictions, if any. Male categories are as follows,
Category A – 'Those whose escape would be highly dangerous to the public or national security'. Typically for example those convicted of offences such as murder, manslaughter, terrorism, rape, wounding with intent, robbery, serious firearm and explosives offences, offences against the state, those sentenced under the Official Secrets Act, or any attempts of those offences. There are a total of ten Category A prisons in the UK, eight are located in England and Wales, one in Scotland and one in Northern Ireland. HM Prison Belmarsh is an example of a Category A prison. They are the equivalent of a supermax/maximum security prison in the United States for example.
Category B – 'Those who do not require maximum security, but for whom escape still needs to be made very difficult'. Typically for those convicted of the same types offences as category A prisoners, but who are not judged to be as high risk or those who have served a long time as a category A prisoner with good behaviour/rehabilitation are sometimes downgraded to category B. HM Prison Wormwood Scrubs is an example of a Category B prison. They are the equivalent of a medium security prison in the United States for example.
Category C – 'Those who cannot be trusted in open conditions but who are unlikely to try to escape'. Typically for those convicted of minor offences and who are serving shorter sentences no more than a few years in length. Also category B prisoners coming to the end of their sentence are sometimes downgraded to category C to prepare them for release. HM Prison Berwyn is an example of a Category C prison. They are the equivalent of a minimum security prison in the United States for example.
Category D – 'Those who can be reasonably trusted not to try to escape, and are given the privilege of an open prison'. Category D prisoners are held in "Open Prisons" in which they are trusted to be able to move freely around the prison without risk and who after completing a risk assessment may be allowed to work outside of the prison in the community or allowed short home visits for a set number of hours a week. Also category C prisoners coming to the end of their sentence are sometimes downgraded to category D to prepare them for release. HM Prison Ford is an example of a Category D prison. They are the equivalent of a minimum security work release prison or local jail in the United States for example.
Adult women in England and Wales are categorised with four slightly different types of security levels, from lowest to highest being Open, ' Closed, Restricted Status and Category A '. However Category A for women is rarely used due to the fairly low number of women being held for such serious offences, meaning most are held either in Closed or Restricted Status conditions. Northern Ireland operates a similar system to England and Wales. Scotland operates a separate three category system, from lowest to highest being Low, Medium and High Supervision .
Additionally whereas males and females aged 18 or over are held in dedicated adult prisons, those under 18 are held in one of three types of establishments across the country that are run by either the public prison service, private companies, local council authorities and in rare cases some charity providers. They are,
Young Offender Institutions which are prison based establishments very similar to adult prisons that hold those convicted and remanded for offences but that only hold males aged 15–20 and who are not classed as vulnerable.
Secure Training Centres which are secure custody establishments but that focus more on things such as education, welfare, health and support rather than traditional prison style punishment. They hold convicted males aged 12–14 and females aged 12–17 in separate accommodation. Though males aged 15–17 can be held also if they are classed as vulnerable.
Secure Children's Homes ' which are similar to STC's in that they mainly focus on things like education, welfare, health and support rather than traditional prison style punishment. They hold very young males and females aged 10–11 convicted or remanded usually for only serious offences. Though males and females aged 12–14 can be held also if they are classed as vulnerable. Additionally males and females all the way up to the age of 17 can be held if they are refused bail and remanded to be held by local children's authorities usually if they are more vulnerable, at risk or a YOI is not suitable. It should also be noted that not all children held in SCHs have necessarily been convicted, remanded or accused of crimes, some are held by court orders on safety grounds under legislation such as the Children Act 1989 due to things like their history of absconding from regular open children's care homes, risk of committing harm to themselves or others, or those at high risk of vulnerability from things such as forms of abuse, illicit drugs use and child prostitution.
More can be found here: Prisoner security categories in the United Kingdom.

Prisons and Young Offender Institutions

England and Wales (His Majesty's Prison Service)

Name	Location	County	Operator	Capacity	Notes	Category	Type
Altcourse	Liverpool	Merseyside	G4S	1324	Male adults and young offenders	B	HMP
Ashfield	Pucklechurch	Gloucestershire	Serco	400	Adult sex offenders	C	HMP
Askham Grange	Askham Richard	North Yorkshire		128	Female adults and young offenders	Open	HMP & YOI
Aylesbury	Aylesbury	Buckinghamshire		443	Formerly YOI	C	HMP
Bedford	Bedford	Bedfordshire		506	Males adults and young offenders	B	HMP
Belmarsh	Thamesmead	London		910	Belmarsh accepts a wide variety of categories of prisoners	A	HMP
Berwyn	Wrexham	Wrexham County Borough		2106	Male adult. Largest prison in the UK.	C	HMP
Birmingham	Birmingham	West Midlands		1450	Previously known as Winson Green	B, C	HMP
Brinsford	Featherstone	Staffordshire		569	Young offenders	B, C	HMP & YOI
Bristol	Horfield	Bristol		614	Male adults and young offenders	B	HMP
Brixton	Brixton	London		798	Training establishment	C	HMP
Bronzefield	Ashford	Surrey	Sodexo Justice Services	569	Female adults and young offenders	A	HMP & YOI
Buckley Hall	Rochdale	Greater Manchester		381	Male adults	C	HMP
Bullingdon	Arncott	Oxfordshire		1114	Male adults	B, C	HMP
Bure	Coltishall	Norfolk		624	Male adults, sex offenders	C	HMP
Cardiff	Adamsdown	Cardiff		784	Male adults	B	HMP
Channings Wood	Denbury	Devon		731	Specialises in delivering the Sex Offender Treatment Programme.	C	HMP
Chelmsford	Chelmsford	Essex		695	Male adults and young offenders	B	HMP & YOI
Coldingley	Bisley	Surrey		513	Training prison	C	HMP
Cookham Wood	Borstal	Kent		157	Male Adults. Re-roled from a Male YOI in July 2024	C	HMP
Dartmoor	Princetown	Devon		646	Training prison	C	HMP
Deerbolt	Startforth	County Durham		453	Training prison and young offenders	C	HMP & YOI
Doncaster	Doncaster	South Yorkshire	Serco	1145	Male adults, young offenders and sex offenders	B	HMP
Dovegate	Uttoxeter	Staffordshire	Serco	860	Male adults training prison	B	HMP
Downview	Banstead	Surrey		358	Female adults and young offenders. Closed in 2013 and reopened in 2016 after refurbishment	Closed	HMP
Drake Hall	Yarnfield	Staffordshire		315	Female adults and young offenders. Specializes in foreign nationals	Closed	HMP & YOI
Durham	Durham	County Durham		981	Male adults and young offenders on remand	B	HMP
East Sutton Park	Sutton Valence	Kent		100	Female adults and young offenders	Open	HMP & YOI
Eastwood Park	Falfield	Gloucestershire		362	Female adults	Closed	HMP & YOI
Erlestoke	Erlestoke	Wiltshire		470	Male adults	C	HMP
Exeter	Exeter	Devon		533	Male adults and young offenders	B	HMP
Featherstone	Featherstone	Staffordshire		702	Training establishment	C	HMP
Feltham	Feltham	London		762	Young offenders, including Under-18s	C	HMP & YOI
Ford	Arundel	West Sussex		557	Male adults.	D	HMP
Forest Bank	Pendlebury	Greater Manchester	Sodexo Justice Services	1424	Male adults and young offenders	B	HMP
Fosse Way	Glen Parva	Leicestershire	Serco	1715		C	HMP
Foston Hall	Foston, Derbyshire	Derbyshire		290	Female adults and young offenders	Closed	HMP & YOI
Five Wells	Wellingborough	Northamptonshire	G4S	1680	Male adults	C	HMP
Frankland	Brasside	County Durham		750	Male adults including Category A High Risk and Category B adult males	A	HMP
Full Sutton	Full Sutton	East Riding of Yorkshire		608	Male adults	A	HMP
Garth	Ulnes Walton	Lancashire		847	Training establishment	B	HMP
Gartree	Market Harborough	Leicestershire		869		B	HMP
Grendon	Grendon Underwood	Buckinghamshire		235		B	HMP
Guys Marsh	Shaftesbury	Dorset		578		C	HMP
Hatfield	Hatfield Woodhouse	South Yorkshire		260	Male adults and young offenders	D	HMP & YOI
Haverigg	Haverigg	Cumbria		644	Male adults	C	HMP
Hewell	Tardebigge	Worcestershire		1431		B	HMP
High Down	Banstead	Surrey		1208	Male adults	C	HMP & YOI
Highpoint North	Stradishall	Suffolk		379	Male adults. Previously known as Edmunds Hill.	C	HMP
Highpoint South	Stradishall	Suffolk		944	Male adults	C	HMP
Hindley	Bickershaw	Greater Manchester		440	Adult Males	C	HMP & YOI
Hollesley Bay	Woodbridge	Suffolk		330	Male adults and young offenders	D	HMP & YOI
Holme House	Stockton-on-Tees	County Durham		1211	Male adults	C	HMP
Hull	Kingston upon Hull	East Riding of Yorkshire		1044	Male adults and young offenders	B	HMP & YOI
Humber	Brough	East Riding of Yorkshire		1064	Male adults, Resettlement	C	HMP
Huntercombe	Nuffield	Oxfordshire		365	Young offenders	C	HMP
Isis	Thamesmead	London		622	Young offenders	C	HMP & YOI
Isle of Wight	Newport	Isle of Wight		567		B	HMP
Isle of Wight	Newport	Isle of Wight		536		B	HMP
Kirkham	Kirkham	Lancashire		590		D	HMP
Kirklevington Grange	Kirklevington	North Yorkshire		283		D	HMP
Lancaster Farms	Lancaster	Lancashire		549		C	HMP
Leeds	Leeds	West Yorkshire		1004	Formerly known as Armley Gaol.	B	HMP
Leicester	Leicester	Leicestershire		392		B	HMP
Lewes	Lewes	East Sussex		723	Male adults and young offenders	B	HMP
Leyhill	Tortworth	Gloucestershire		532		D	HMP
Lincoln	Lincoln	Lincolnshire		738		B	HMP & YOI
Lindholme	Hatfield Woodhouse	South Yorkshire		990	Part of site used as Immigration Removal Centre	C, D	HMP
Littlehey	Perry	Cambridgeshire		1200	Extension holding 480 male young offenders to open January 2010	C	HMP
Liverpool	Liverpool	Merseyside		1184		B, C	HMP
Long Lartin	South Littleton	Worcestershire		622		A	HMP
Low Newton	Brasside	County Durham		336	Female adults and young offenders	Closed	HMP & YOI
Lowdham Grange	Lowdham	Nottinghamshire	Serco	690		B	HMP
Maidstone	Maidstone	Kent		600	Foreign Nationals	C	HMP
Manchester	Manchester	Greater Manchester		1269	Previously known as Strangeways	A	HMP
Millsike	Full Sutton	East Riding of Yorkshire		1500		C	HMP
Moorland	Hatfield Woodhouse	South Yorkshire		1006	Male adults and young offenders	C	HMP & YOI
Morton Hall	Morton Hall	Lincolnshire		392	Adult Male Foreign Nationals	C	HMP
New Hall	Flockton	West Yorkshire		446	Female adults and young offenders	Closed	HMP & YOI
Northumberland	Acklington	Northumberland	Sodexo Justice Services	1348	Created by merging HMP Acklington and HMP Castington	C	HMP
North Sea Camp	Freiston	Lincolnshire		306		D	HMP
Norwich	Norwich	Norfolk		767	Male adults and young offenders	B, C	HMP & YOI
Nottingham	Nottingham	Nottinghamshire		549		B	HMP
Oakwood	Featherstone	Staffordshire	G4S	1605		C	HMP
Onley	Rugby	Warwickshire		742	Male adults, training and resettlement	C	HMP
Parc	Bridgend	Mid Glamorgan	G4S	1800	Male adults and young offenders, including Under-18s. Opened in 1997.	B	HMP & YOI
Pentonville	Barnsbury	London		1250		B, C	HMP & YOI
Peterborough	Peterborough	Cambridgeshire	Sodexo Justice Services	840	Male adults and female adults	B	HMP
Portland	Easton	Dorset		624	Young offenders	C	HMP & YOI
Prescoed	Usk	Monmouthshire		178	Young offenders; Satellite of Usk	D	HMP & YOI
Preston	Preston	Lancashire		750		B	HMP
Ranby	Ranby	Nottinghamshire		1098		C	HMP
Risley	Warrington	Cheshire		1085		C	HMP
Rochester	Rochester	Kent		695	Young offenders	C	HMP & YOI
Rye Hill	Barby	Northamptonshire	G4S	664		B	HMP
Send	Send	Surrey		282	Female adults	Closed	HMP
Elmley	Eastchurch	Kent		985	Male adults and young offenders	B, C	HMP
Standford Hill	Eastchurch	Kent		462		D	HMP
Swaleside	Eastchurch	Kent		1132		B	HMP
Stafford	Stafford	Staffordshire		741		C	HMP
Stocken	Stretton	Rutland		806		C	HMP
Stoke Heath	Stoke Heath	Shropshire		632	Young offenders	C	HMP & YOI
Styal	Styal	Cheshire		459	Female adults and young offenders	Closed	HMP & YOI
Sudbury	Sudbury	Derbyshire		581		D	HMP
Swansea	Sandfields	Swansea		422		B, C	HMP
Swinfen Hall	Swinfen	Staffordshire		624	Male adults and young offenders	C	HMP & YOI
Thameside	Thamesmead	London	Serco	1200		B	HMP
The Mount	Bovingdon	Hertfordshire		1100	Adult Category C	C	HMP
The Verne	Portland	Dorset		600	Male adults, sex offenders	C	HMP
Thorn Cross	Appleton Thorn	Cheshire		321	Young offenders	D	HMP & YOI
Usk	Usk	Monmouthshire		250		C	HMP
Wakefield	Wakefield	West Yorkshire		751	Also known as 'Monster Mansion'	A	HMP
Wandsworth	Wandsworth	London		1665		B, C	HMP
Warren Hill	Woodbridge	Suffolk		222	Young offenders	C	HMP
Wayland	Griston	Norfolk		1017		C	HMP
Wealstun	Thorp Arch	West Yorkshire		527		C	HMP
Werrington	Werrington	Staffordshire		162	Young offenders, including Under-18s	YOI	HMYOI
Wetherby	Wetherby	West Yorkshire		360	Young offenders, including Under-18s	YOI	HMYOI
Whatton	Whatton-in-the-Vale	Nottinghamshire		841		C	HMP
Whitemoor	March	Cambridgeshire		448		A	HMP
Winchester	Winchester	Hampshire		544	Male adults	B	HMP & YOI
Woodhill	Milton Keynes	Buckinghamshire		819		B	HMP & YOI
Wormwood Scrubs	Wormwood Scrubs	London		1277	Male adults	B	HMP
Wymott	Ulnes Walton	Lancashire		1144		C	HMP

HMP The Verne is now acting as a public sector category C prison.