Women's Prisons UK 2026: All 12 in England and Wales

In shortEngland and Wales has 12 women's establishments, ten public and two private; Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own arrangements.

The women's estate in England and Wales is 12 establishments, listed below. HMPPS's functional-group list shows the "Female" group as 12 units, and Peterborough is counted as two units in the ratings (male and female), which is why you may see slightly different totals in different tables.

Ten publicly run

Most public women's establishments are described as a prison and young offender institution for women aged 18 and over. Send is described as a women's prison.

Two contracted out

Bronzefield and Peterborough, both listed against Sodexo on their GOV.UK establishment pages (page dates differ, so confirm the operator before relying on it; see the private prisons guide).

Scotland

Women are held at Stirling, Polmont, Grampian and Greenock according to the dataset's SPS establishment descriptions, with two community custody units for women and young people.

Northern Ireland

Female prisoners are held in Hydebank Wood College and Women's Prison.

• Askham Grange
• Bronzefield
• Downview
• Drake Hall
• East Sutton Park
• Eastwood Park
• Foston Hall
• Low Newton
• New Hall
• Peterborough (female unit)
• Send
• Styal

In shortThe female population was 3,407 against a useable operational capacity of 3,718 on 28 September 2026, a headroom of 311.

• Female population3,407HMPPS weekly bulletin, 28 September 2026
• Useable operational capacity3,718Women's estate, same bulletin
• Headroom311Operating margin 120

The HMPPS weekly population bulletin for 28 September 2026 gives the female population as 3,407 and the useable operational capacity for women as 3,718, a headroom of 311. The operating margin for the women's estate is 120.

Those figures are far smaller than the adult male side (83,819 people held against a capacity of 84,953), so a handful of changes can move the percentages noticeably.

The monthly bulletin dated 24 August 2026 gives each prison's operational capacity and population separately. Summing the ten public women's prisons in the dataset gives 2,951 operational capacity and 2,574 population on that date; the two private sites are not comparable because Peterborough is reported jointly.

• These sums use a different date and a different source from the weekly bulletin, so do not mix them with the 3,407 figure.
• Capacity is a moving target. Operational capacity is set by Prison Group Directors, and what is described as a margin can shrink or grow.
• The Sentencing Act 2026 provisions phase in from October 2026 to June 2027 and may shift populations, but I have found no published forecast for the women's estate specifically, so none is offered here.

In shortThe Women's Estate is a functional HMPPS region rather than a geographic one, so check the town of any women's prison you are considering.

HMPPS manages public-sector prisons in regions under Prison Group Directors. The official structure as at June 2026 includes a Women's Estate region, which is functional rather than geographic. The wider estate has other functional regions too: Youth Custody Estate and the two Long Term and High Security regions.

Geography is wide. The 12 sites run from Low Newton near Durham to Downview and Send in Surrey, Eastwood Park in Gloucestershire and East Sutton Park in Kent. For a regional view of every prison, use the prison directory and the Female category hub at /prisons/category/female/.

Women's Estate region

In the dataset the public women's prisons are mapped to it: Askham Grange, Downview, Drake Hall, East Sutton Park, Eastwood Park, Foston Hall, Low Newton, New Hall, Send and Styal.

Women's Estate (workforce statistics)

For HR reporting purposes, a prison group in the workforce statistics guide.

Area Executive Director region

A separate classification used in the performance ratings, which also includes a Women's Group.

In shortThere is no separate women's-estate pay structure; only Downview and Send carry a £2,000 supplement, and Downview is also outer London.

• National zone, 37h£34,928 to £36,778Including 20% unsocial hours allowance
• Outer London, 37h£38,840 to £40,896Including 20% unsocial hours allowance
• Market supplement£2,000Downview and Send; non-pensionable

There is no separate women's-estate pay structure. A Band 3 officer at a public women's prison is on the same Fair and Sustainable bands as anywhere in England and Wales.

On the national zone and a 37 hour contract that is £34,928, £36,150 or £36,778 including the 20% unsocial hours allowance; outer London is £38,840 to £40,896. Full tables are in the prison officer pay bands guide.

Market supplements are listed on the HMPPS pay page by establishment.

• The HMPPS Prison and Probation Jobs page names HMP Send and HMP & YOI Downview at £2,000 a year each, and no other women's prison.
• A web-search summary suggested more women's prisons carry £2,000, but the page itself does not list them, so this guide follows the page, which was read on 3 October 2026.
• Supplements apply to Band 3 officers on Fair and Sustainable terms, are non-pensionable and are paid in 12 monthly instalments.

In shortThe Women's Estate all-staff leaving rate was 7.2% against 9.1% for prison service establishments overall in the 12 months to 30 June 2026.

• Women's Estate leaving rate7.2%All staff, 12 months to 30 June 2026 (Table 10a)
• Prison service establishments9.1%All staff, same period
• Band 3 to 5 FTE in post (10 public women's prisons)1,15330 June 2026, hours-adjusted
• Combined target1,308A gap of 155; derived, so indicative

Both leaving-rate figures cover all staff, not only officers, so they are indicators rather than direct comparisons with the 8.9% leaving rate for Band 3 to 5 officers.

The staffing annex gives officer staffing against hours-adjusted targets for each public prison at 30 June 2026. The totals are derived by adding the dataset's per-prison figures, so treat them as indicative; the per-prison numbers are in the table below.

These numbers have no explanatory notes in the source, so I will not speculate about reasons.

In shortIn the 12 months to March 2026, assaults on staff in female establishments ran at 311 per 1,000 prisoners against 105 in male establishments; treat small-population rates with care.

• Assaults on staff, female311 per 1,000Up 11%, a new peak
• Assaults on staff, male105 per 1,000Down 9%; 113 across the whole estate
• Overall assault rate, women's660 per 1,000Against 342 for men
• Self-harm, women's5,643 per 1,000More than nine times the male rate of 610; down 4.5% on the year

The Ministry of Justice's Safety in Custody quarterly update to March 2026, published on 30 July 2026, is the source for the numbers in this section.

Self-harm needs particular care. If this subject affects you, Samaritans are available free on 116 123, and the publication itself carries that advice.

• Rates per 1,000 in a small population move a lot when a few people are involved.
• Per-prison counts in the source tables are partly suppressed, so they are not reproduced here.
• The figures do not tell you what a given prison feels like to work in. They are the best available national indicator, and they are one reason staff training, supervision and support matter in this part of the estate.
• Self-harm figures are incident counts, and a small number of individuals can account for many incidents.

In shortThe core requirements are the same whichever establishment you apply to, and no published, dated rule restricts women's prison officer roles by gender; the vacancy is the authority.

The recruitment pages published by HMPPS describe the same core requirements for prison officer roles whichever establishment you apply to. I have not found a published, dated rule that restricts women's prison officer roles by gender.

Do not assume one either way: the vacancy and the role description for the specific establishment are the authority, so read them and, if in doubt, contact the recruitment team named on the page.

What the research does show is a few differences in the process:

• The online assessment centre for women's prisons adds three behaviour-based written questions.
• HMPPS training material refers to an eight-week foundation course for women's prisons, where other routes describe seven weeks. The sources are not fully consistent on the length, so check the current figure with HMPPS before planning around it.

1. Online application.
2. Assessment.
3. Vetting.
4. Medical and fitness checks.
5. Training and probation.

In shortTwo women's prisons are open and Scotland runs two community custody units; closed women's prisons are not split into Category B or C.

Two women's prisons are open. HMP & YOI Askham Grange near York and HMP & YOI East Sutton Park in Kent are both rated Outstanding in the 2025/26 performance ratings, with operational capacities of 128 and 100 at 24 August 2026.

The guide to open prisons explains what open conditions mean in the Security Categorisation Policy Framework.

Bella Centre (Dundee) and Lilias Centre (Glasgow)

Community custody units described as holding women and young people under low supervision. SPS runs them, so pay and recruitment are on SPS terms. The Scottish Prison Service lists 17 prisons in all, one of them privately operated.

Closed women's prisons

Not subdivided into Category B or C. The framework simply describes them as closed, which is why the dataset's category for most of them is the functional group "Female", not a letter.

In shortScotland and Northern Ireland hold women under separate pay and conditions, and capacity and inspection data for those nations were not researched here.

• SPS Residential Officer, from 1 April 2026£37,682Start of scale, SPS careers page read on 3 October 2026
• Within three years£44,248Subject to progression

The dataset's SPS and NIPS records show where women are held outside England and Wales:

SPS pay and conditions are separate from HMPPS. NIPS pay is also separate; the 2026/27 outcome was not found. See the planned guides on pay in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Capacity and inspection data for SPS and NIPS were not researched for this guide, so no comparative figures are given. If you want a UK-wide view of every establishment, the prison finder covers all 143 in the dataset.

• Stirling: female, young and adult.
• Polmont: young males 18 to 21, adult males and adult females.
• Grampian: male and female adults and young people.
• Greenock: male and female.
• The Bella and Lilias community custody units.
• Northern Ireland: Hydebank Wood College and Women's Prison holds female remand and sentenced prisoners.