The short answer: how many prison officers are there?

In shortHMPPS had 22,001 FTE band 3 to 5 officers at 30 June 2026: a fall followed by a plateau, not yet a recovery.

  • Band 3 to 5 officers22,001 FTE30 June 2026
  • Change on a year earlier-7013.1% fewer; up 17 on 31 March 2026
  • Band 2 operational support5,661 FTEUp 242 (4.5%) on the year
  • Total HMPPS staff65,945 FTE36,155 in public-sector prisons

As at 30 June 2026 HMPPS had 22,001 FTE band 3 to 5 prison officers, which is the grade group the Government and the PSPRB call the key operational grades.

The headline pattern is a fall followed by a plateau. The latest quarter shows a small rise of 17 FTE, which HMPPS reports as an increase of 0.1% since March. It is too early to call that a recovery: the bulletin's own comparison with a year earlier is a fall of 701.

  • Band 3 and 4 prison officers including specialists: 18,530 FTE
  • Band 4 supervising officers: 1,680
  • Band 5 custodial managers: 1,790
  • These add up to 22,000 given rounding in the published table.
  • Officer FTE was 23,590 at 31 March 2024, 22,716 at 31 March 2025, 21,984 at 31 March 2026 and 22,001 at 30 June 2026.
  • The total is back to roughly where it stood at 31 March 2021 and 2022 (21,863 and 21,921), 1,589 below the March 2024 peak.

Before quoting any of these figures

They are FTE, not headcount, so a part-time officer counts as a fraction. And they relate to HMPPS direct employees only: private prisons, which held about 21% of prisoners on average in the year to March 2026, employ their own staff and are not counted.

This guide covers England and Wales; the Scottish Prison Service and the Northern Ireland Prison Service publish their own workforce data.

Officer numbers since 2021

In shortOfficer numbers rose to a peak of 23,590 in March 2024 after a large recruitment push and have fallen since, mostly in the prison officer grade.

  • March 202121,863
  • Peak, March 202423,590
  • Fall in year to March 2025874
  • Fall in year to March 2026732Our arithmetic

The table shows the end-of-year position from March 2021 together with the last five quarterly points. Officer numbers rose from 21,863 in March 2021 to a peak of 23,590 in March 2024 after a large recruitment push, and have fallen since.

Band 2 operational support grades, by contrast, rose from 5,424 in March 2025 to 5,661 in June 2026.

  • Band 3 and 4 officers fell from 20,225 FTE in March 2024 to 18,530 in June 2026, a fall of 1,695 or 8.4% by our arithmetic.
  • Band 4 supervising officers (1,608 to 1,680) and band 5 custodial managers (1,757 to 1,790) were broadly stable across the same period.
  • Operational managers in bands 6 to 8 were 794 FTE and in bands 9 to 12 were 213 FTE at 30 June 2026.
Band 3 to 5 officers and band 2 operational support, FTE in post
DateBand 3 to 5 officersBand 3 and 4 prison officersBand 2 operational support
31 Mar 202121,86318,3044,951
31 Mar 202221,92118,3405,055
31 Mar 202322,20218,8345,290
31 Mar 202423,59020,2255,542
31 Mar 202522,71619,3105,424
30 Jun 202522,70219,2725,419
31 Mar 202621,98418,5545,445
30 Jun 202622,00118,5305,661

Source: HMPPS workforce statistics June 2026, Tables 3 and 4 (published 20 August 2026). Band 3 to 5 totals from Table 4; small differences are due to rounding.

Staffing against target: the gap

In shortAll establishments were 1,823 FTE below HMPPS's target at 30 June 2026, against a surplus of 215 in March 2024.

  • In post, June 202621,727Hours-adjusted FTE
  • Target23,550
  • Gap, June 2026-1,823-1,820 at March 2026; -1,734 at December 2025
  • March 2024+215A surplus; the gap was 992 in March 2025

HMPPS sets a target staffing level for each prison, defined in the annex as the number of staff required to run an optimal regime, which is higher than the minimum needed to operate safely and includes allowances for leave, sickness and training.

Targets are set on a 39-hour week, staff in post are hours-adjusted to match, and the annex warns that targets change regularly with governors' freedoms and cannot be used to calculate vacancies directly. Surpluses and deficits at grade level can net off, and Payment Plus and detached duty are not counted.

A year earlier the gap was 1,045. The Ministry of Justice's January 2026 capacity statement put staffing at 95% of target at 30 September 2025, which is consistent with a gap of 1,225 in the table (22,242 against 23,467), and said that was a decrease of 1,015 FTE (4.3%) since the end of September 2024.

Band 3 to 5 officers against target staffing, all establishments (hours-adjusted FTE)
DateIn postTargetDifference
Mar 202321,84323,023-1,180
Mar 202423,18522,971+215
Mar 202522,42323,415-992
Jun 202522,38923,433-1,045
Sep 202522,24223,467-1,225
Dec 202521,79223,526-1,734
Mar 202621,71423,534-1,820
Jun 202621,72723,550-1,823

Source: HMPPS workforce annex, Table 4, 'All establishments' row (includes HQ and Area Services). Targets are on a 39-hour basis and cannot be used directly as vacancy counts (annex note 13).

Where the shortfalls are largest

The largest shortfalls in the June 2026 annex are at long-term and high-security prisons. Gaps like these are why recruitment and retention payments, such as market supplements, are targeted at specific sites; see market supplements for prison officers.

  • Full Sutton: 345 against a target of 452, a gap of 108
  • Long Lartin: 99
  • Cookham Wood: 96 (flagged in the annex as affected by its re-role to an adult prison)
  • Whitemoor: 90
  • Swaleside: 69
  • Woodhill: 64
  • Wayland: 62
  • Wetherby: 51
  • Berwyn: 50

Joiners and leavers: the recruitment dip

In shortRecruitment slowed sharply from 2024-25, but the last two quarters are the first back-to-back quarters since spring 2024 with appointments above leavers.

  • Appointed, 12 months to June 20262,116333 (13.6%) fewer than the year before
  • Left, 12 months to June 20262,095786 (27.3%) fewer than the year before
  • Apr to Jun 2026623 appointed553 direct recruits and 70 conversions; 389 leavers

Quarterly appointment figures show how sharply recruitment slowed. Appointments (direct recruits plus conversions of existing staff) were above 1,000 in several quarters of 2021-22 to 2023-24, including 1,640 in January to March 2023 and 1,618 in July to September 2023.

In 2024-25 they were 989, 718, 379 and 540, and in 2025-26 812, 602, 326 and 565.

Band 3 to 5 officers: appointments and leavers by quarter (headcount)
QuarterDirect recruitsConversionsAll appointedLeavers
Jan to Mar 20231,568721,640674
Jul to Sep 20231,4641541,618884
Jan to Mar 20241,310871,397800
Jul to Sep 202468632718846
Oct to Dec 202435029379691
Apr to Jun 2025658154812631
Oct to Dec 202529135326619
Jan to Mar 202646996565433
Apr to Jun 202655370623389

Source: HMPPS workforce statistics June 2026, Table 17. Conversions are existing HMPPS staff appointed to officer jobs; they are neither joiners nor leavers. The most recent 12 months are provisional.

The numbers do not reconcile

By our arithmetic appointments exceeded leavers by 21 in the year, yet FTE in post fell by 701.

These figures do not reconcile directly, because Table 17 counts headcount appointments and leavers while staff in post is FTE at a point in time and is also affected by promotions out of the grade, transfers and changes in hours. We have not tried to reconcile them.

A short run of better quarters

The most recent two quarters are the first back-to-back quarters since the spring of 2024 in which appointments exceeded leavers: 565 against 433 in January to March 2026 and 623 against 389 in April to June 2026, by the table's own columns.

That is encouraging for stability but is a short run, and the earlier quarters show how quickly the position can change. The Government's January 2026 statement pointed to the same improvement in retention and said recruitment continues at all sites with current or projected vacancies.

Leaving and resignation rates, and why people leave

In shortLeaving rates have fallen from a 16.1% peak to 8.9% for band 3 to 5 officers, but 47.2% of leavers still had under three years' service.

  • Leaving rate, band 3 to 58.9%Year to June 2026
  • Resignation rate, band 3 to 55.6%Year to June 2026
  • Resigned1,30562.3% of the 2,095 who left
  • Left with under 3 years' service98847.2% by our arithmetic

Leaving rates have fallen from a peak. For the band 3 and 4 prison officer row, the leaving rate was 10.1% in the year to March 2021, rose to 16.1% in the year to March 2022 and 16.0% a year later, then fell to 14.4%, 13.5%, 10.7% and 9.6% in the year to June 2026.

The resignation rate fell from 12.5% in the year to March 2022 to 6.3% (Table 11 and Table 12).

Band 3 and 4 prison officer leaving and resignation rates, 12 months to date shown
12 months toLeaving rateResignation rate
31 Mar 202110.1%6.3%
31 Mar 202216.1%12.5%
31 Mar 202316.0%11.2%
31 Mar 202414.4%9.7%
31 Mar 202513.5%9.4%
31 Mar 202610.7%6.8%
30 Jun 20269.6%6.3%

Source: HMPPS workforce statistics June 2026, Tables 11 and 12, grade row 'Bands 3-4 / Prison Officer (incl. specialists)'. The bulletin's band 3 to 5 combined rates for June 2026 are lower (leaving 8.9%, resignation 5.6%).

Why the 2,095 left in the year to June 2026

We note the figures but do not draw conclusions about causes.

  • 1,305 resigned (62.3%), 178 retired, 27 took medical retirement and 71 transferred to another government department.
  • Dismissals accounted for 482 leavers (23.0%): 204 for conduct, 259 for unsatisfactory attendance or medical inefficiency and 19 other.
  • Table 14b shows conduct dismissals rising from 104 in the year to March 2021 to 204 in the year to June 2026, while attendance and medical-inefficiency dismissals were 227 and 259 in the same two points.

Length of service at leaving

In the 12 months to June 2026, 988 of the 2,095 leavers (47.2% by our arithmetic) had under three completed years' service: 320 with under one year, 330 with one and 338 with two. By contrast 188 left after 30 or more years.

Early-service attrition has fallen sharply, since leavers with under one year's service were 1,049 in the year to March 2024 and 320 now, but a large share of leavers still has less than three years' experience.

Experience: a younger workforce

In short30.2% of band 3 to 5 officers had under three years' service at 30 June 2026, and the centre of gravity is two to nine years.

  • Under three years' service30.2%6,639 FTE (our arithmetic from Table 4); 37.3% a year earlier
  • Ten or more years24.9%5,469 FTE as published
  • Completed years: 0 / 1 / 21,724 / 1,880 / 3,035FTE; the two-year cohort reflects the earlier recruitment peak

Because so many officers joined during the 2021 to 2024 recruitment drive, the length-of-service profile has shifted.

The experience mix matters because experienced officers are what supervising officers and custodial managers rely on when things go wrong. The PSPRB's 2026 report records that retention is fragile, with many staff leaving within 24 months.

We cannot say from these tables whether a relatively inexperienced workforce affects safety, and we would not claim it does. What the data show is a workforce whose centre of gravity is two to nine years' service.

Band 3 to 5 officers by completed years of service, FTE
Years of service30 Jun 202530 Jun 2026
02,1471,724
13,4691,880
22,8463,035
3 to 43,0834,266
5 to 95,5285,628
10 or more5,6295,468
Total22,70222,001

Source: HMPPS workforce statistics June 2026, Table 4. The 3 to 4 and 10 or more rows are our sums of the published single-year and grouped rows; the totals are as published. Small rounding differences are possible.

What the official and union sources say is driving it

In shortThe sources differ in emphasis: the PSPRB points to fragile retention and visa exposure, the unions to chronic staffing problems, and we cannot say how much pay explains the numbers.

The sources differ in emphasis, and we report each.

We cannot say how much pay explains the numbers. What we can say is that the Government's January 2026 capacity statement links staffing to the build programme, noting that all expansion projects are factored into staffing plans, and that the Ministry's own measure was 95% of target at 30 September 2025.

PSPRB 2026 report
Over 80% of its remit group cannot take industrial action; recruitment has relied on overseas applicants and so is exposed to changes in Skilled Worker visa rules; retention is fragile with many staff leaving within 24 months; and morale is mixed. A Minister's letter in the report's Appendix C extends Skilled Worker sponsorship for prison officers for new and switching applications to 31 December 2026 and extensions to 31 December 2027.
POA
Told the PSPRB that officer numbers had flatlined between 2020 and 2025 and that the leaving rate, though it had fallen, was still too high, that more staff with under three years' service were leaving, and that detached duty is now an increasingly common response to chronic staffing issues. HMPPS's position, as the POA records it, is that 'green shoots' were appearing. Our POA explainer sets out the union's evidence.
PCS union
Said operational staff had fallen by 1,046 FTE (3.5%) in the year to June 2025.
Pay
The PSPRB recommended 3.5% for officers in 2026, accepted in full; our 2026/27 pay rise guide gives the figures, and market supplements of £1,500 to £3,500 are paid at 18 prisons with recruitment difficulties.

Sickness absence and wellbeing

In shortBand 3 and 4 officers lost 14.0 working days to sickness in the year to June 2026, with mental ill health the largest recorded reason at 37.8% of known reasons.

  • Band 3 and 4 officers14.0 daysAverage working days lost, 12 months to 30 June 2026
  • Mental ill health37.8%110,487 working days lost; band 3 to 5 officers
  • Musculoskeletal conditions22.9%66,848 days
  • Public-sector prison staff12.4 daysUp 0.2 on the year to March 2026

Absence is part of the staffing picture. Average working days lost to sickness for band 3 and 4 prison officers was 14.0 in the 12 months to 30 June 2026, for band 4 supervising officers 13.4, for band 5 custodial managers 9.1 and for band 2 operational support 11.9.

These figures are from Tables 18 and 19 of the June 2026 release.

The total for the band 3 to 5 group was 301,837 working days lost.

The share for mental ill health was 23.1% in the year to March 2021, so it has risen by about 15 percentage points in five years by our arithmetic, although the earlier years were dominated by pandemic absences, which makes comparison with 2021 and 2022 difficult.

For serving officers

  • Sickness policy and pay are in separate guides: see prison officer sick pay, the sick pay calculator, and stress and wellbeing.
  • If you are struggling, speak to your line manager, occupational health, the Employee Assistance Programme or your union.
  • If you need to talk to someone urgently the Samaritans are available on 116 123.

What this means if you are joining, staying or moving, and what we could not verify

In shortNational averages hide local variation, so the useful question is what the target-staffing position, pay area and supplement look like at the prison you are considering.

We could not verify several things:

  • We did not analyse per-prison joiner and leaver tables.
  • We did not verify the private-prison staffing position, which is not in HMPPS statistics.
  • We could not reconcile appointments and leavers with the FTE change.
  • We did not verify the 7.0% resignation rate for September 2025 quoted in the Government's January 2026 statement beyond noting it.
  • We did not find an official forecast of officer numbers for the Sentencing Act period, so we do not offer one.

Who the figures matter to

If you are joining

  • A short-staffed prison is not necessarily a worse job or a better one; it usually means more overtime and detached duty opportunities, a heavier workload and sometimes a market supplement.
  • The numbers above are national and the right question is local: what is the target-staffing position, what is the pay area, is there a supplement, and what is the commute?
  • The prison finder and the job offer comparator help you compare establishments; our prison officer jobs by region guide covers where recruiting is active.

If you are serving

  • Experience is concentrated in the 5 to 9 year band and leaving rates have eased, which affects how quickly promotion opportunities come up and how stretched your own team feels.
  • If you are weighing a move, remember that leaving rates and target gaps vary a lot by prison and that national averages hide that.
Free toolJob offer comparatorCompare two prison jobs on pay, supplements, hours, pension and commute, side by side. Free.Compare two offers

Frequently asked questions

How many prison officers are there in England and Wales?

HMPPS had 22,001 FTE band 3 to 5 prison officers in post at 30 June 2026, which is 701 (3.1%) fewer than a year earlier. That is made up of band 3 and 4 officers, band 4 supervising officers and band 5 custodial managers.

It excludes private-prison staff, band 2 operational support grades and managers in bands 6 and above.

Are there enough prison officers?

Against HMPPS's own target, all establishments were 1,823 FTE short at 30 June 2026 (21,727 against 23,550, hours-adjusted). HMPPS says targets cannot be used directly to calculate vacancies, are set above the minimum needed to operate safely, and that shortfalls are routinely covered by Payment Plus and detached duty.

What is the prison officer attrition rate?

For band 3 to 5 officers the leaving rate was 8.9% and the resignation rate 5.6% in the 12 months to 30 June 2026, according to the HMPPS workforce bulletin.

For the band 3 and 4 officer grade row, the leaving rate peaked at 16.1% in the year to March 2022 and was 9.6% in the year to June 2026.

Why do prison officers leave?

Of 2,095 officers who left in the year to June 2026, 1,305 (62.3%) resigned, 178 retired, 27 took medical retirement and 482 (23.0%) were dismissed, mostly for conduct or unsatisfactory attendance and medical inefficiency. HMPPS data does not give the reasons behind resignations.

The PSPRB, POA and PCS each point to different factors, including pay, safety and visas.

How many new prison officers are being recruited?

HMPPS appointed 2,116 band 3 to 5 officers in the 12 months to 30 June 2026, 333 (13.6%) fewer than the year before. Quarterly appointments were 623 in April to June 2026, including 553 direct recruits, up from 326 in October to December 2025. Appointments include conversions of existing staff.

How experienced are prison officers now?

At 30 June 2026, 30.2% of band 3 to 5 officers had under three years' service, down from 37.3% a year earlier, and 24.9% had 10 or more years. The largest single-year cohort among the newer staff is those with two completed years (3,035 FTE), reflecting the 2021 to 2024 recruitment peak.

Do private prisons count in these figures?

No. HMPPS workforce statistics cover directly employed public-sector staff only, and the annex states that privately managed prisons are excluded. Private prisons hold roughly a fifth of prisoners and employ their own staff on their own terms, so any national ratio of staff to prisoners that mixes the two will be misleading.

Sources