HMP Coldingley

History and role in the estate

In shortColdingley opened in 1969 as a category B industrial training prison and has been a category C training and resettlement prison since 1993.

• Operational capacity513HMPPS
• Population509At 24 August 2026, so the prison is run close to full

HM Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP) records that HMP Coldingley opened in 1969 as a category B industrial training prison. In 1993 it was re-designated as a category C training and resettlement establishment, which is its role today for adult men.

The Chief Inspector describes it as an aging facility that has been developed since it opened, though recent initiatives to update the prison had been disrupted. The newest addition is G wing, which provides 62 modular accommodation cells.

HMIP’s report lists the prison’s group as Kent, Surrey and Sussex, and it holds the HMPPS ‘Category C Trainer/Resettlement’ functional group. The GOV.UK page places it in Woking, Surrey. For a plain-English explanation of the category system, see our prison categories guide.

Who is held and how the prison works

In shortA full category C prison of around 505 men, with printing and sign-making workshops at its heart.

• New prisoners617Received since January 2025; around 26 released into the community each month and around 16 transferred to open prisons each month
• BAME prisoners36%HMIP
• Foreign nationals29Supported by a dedicated specialist
• Substance misuse services150Prisoners under care, 42 of them actively accessing treatment

At the inspection in November 2025 the prison held 505 men. The Independent Monitoring Board (IMB) reports the prison had operated at capacity for over three years, with population turnover accelerating, and that men serving imprisonment for public protection (IPP) sentences made up about 5% of residents.

Work is a defining feature. HMIP says most workshop activity offered sufficient challenge and the opportunity to develop technical skills in areas such as printing and sign making, often with high-quality equipment, although prisoners in those workshops lacked accredited qualifications to back up their learning. Other courses mentioned include barbering and industrial cleaning.

A wing and D wing

93 prisoners each, without in-cell sanitation.

B wing

93 prisoners, newly refurbished with in-cell sanitation.

C wing

Closed for refurbishment.

E wing

162 prisoners with in-cell showers and toilets, including an incentivised substance-free living zone and a zone for long-term prisoners.

F wing

A small unit for up to 10.

G wing

Modular units, which leaders had designated as enhanced accommodation to incentivise positive behaviour.

Providers

Health care by Central and North West London NHS Foundation Trust, substance misuse treatment by the Forward Trust and education by MK College Group.

What inspectors found in November 2025

In shortRespect and release preparation were reasonably good; safety and activity were not sufficiently good, with drugs the principal concern.

• SafetyNot sufficiently good
• RespectReasonably good
• Purposeful activityNot sufficiently good
• Preparation for releaseReasonably good

HMIP’s unannounced inspection ran from 10 to 20 November 2025, with the report published in early 2026 (the HMIP site dates it 23 February 2026).

The Chief Inspector reported some deterioration in safety, with the widespread use of illicit drugs the principal concern: mandatory drug testing rates were among the highest nationally and 43% of prisoners said drugs were easily available.

Gate security, CCTV coverage and secure windows needed investment that had not yet been approved. Ofsted graded overall effectiveness of education, skills and work as ‘requires improvement’. Of the 22 recommendations from the 2022 inspection, 10 of those about concerns had been achieved, nine partly and three not at all.

Staffing, retention and the visa question

In shortRetention and sickness improved, but visa changes put a workforce with a third Commonwealth officers at risk.

• HMPPS 2025/26 rating55.7%‘Performance of concern’ (rating 2 of 4)
• Officers in post123 FTEBand 3 to 5 officers against a target of 126, three below target (30 June 2026)

The inspectors say leaders had made good progress in improving staff retention and reducing sickness through stronger support and line management oversight.

They also recorded that 35 Commonwealth officers made up around a third of front-line staff, and that uncertainty caused by Home Office visa changes had created concern and instability; HMIP says it was informed of a national resolution to this issue some weeks after the inspection ended.

The IMB’s annual report for 1 August 2024 to 31 July 2025, published in September 2025, points the same way.

• The extreme rate of staff attrition seen the year before had eased.
• Better staffing levels had ended the previous weekend lockdowns, and this was now at risk because of immigration visa rule changes announced in July 2025.
• Staff visibility on wing landings remained a concern, which echoes HMIP’s priority concern about supervision.

Working here: pay and getting there

In shortNational pay zone with a £2,000 a year Band 3 market supplement (3 October 2026); no Coldingley-specific recruitment page was found.

Coldingley is in the national pay zone and is on HMPPS’s Band 3 market supplement list at £2,000 a year (3 October 2026). The supplement is non-pensionable and, in HMPPS’s words, guaranteed to at least March 2027 and able to be withdrawn.

The pay guide shows the 2026/27 national Band 3 pay points, and the table below gives the entry pay point. HMPPS does not publish a dedicated Coldingley recruitment page that we could find, so apply through the national route. The regional jobs guide compares nearby prisons in Surrey and Sussex.