The Sentencing Act 2026 introduces wide-ranging reforms to sentencing, prisoner release and offender management in England and Wales. While some provisions came into force earlier in the year, 1st October 2026 marked another significant stage in its implementation, with changes to automatic release arrangements and community sentences taking effect.
The changes affect how long many offenders spend in custody and how they are managed following release.
New release points for Standard Determinate Sentences:
One of the most significant changes which came into force on 1 October concerns Standard Determinate Sentences (SDS), which are fixed-term sentences divided between time in custody and time on licence in the community.
Under the new framework:
· One-third release point: eligible offenders previously released after serving 40% or one half of their sentence may now be released after one third.
· Halfway release point: eligible offenders previously released at the two-thirds point may now be released after one half.
· Phased implementation: eligible prisoners already serving sentences are being brought within the new regime in stages according to sentence length.
· Excluded offences: the new release points do not apply to all offences or sentence types.
Importantly, earlier release does not mean that the sentence has ended. The remaining period is served on licence in the community.
A new approach to supervision after release:
The reforms place greater emphasis on how offenders are managed after leaving custody.
Under the new Progression Model, an eligible offender’s sentence is divided into custody, intensive supervision in the community and a final period on licence. Community supervision can include regular probation appointments, risk assessments and monitoring of licence conditions. Offenders may also be recalled to custody where they cannot be safely managed in the community.
The change is therefore not simply about earlier release, but about shifting a greater part of the sentence from custody into the community, with eligible offenders subject to supervision and licence conditions following release.
Changes to community sentences:
Further reforms came into force on 1st October. The Rehabilitation Activity Requirement has been renamed the Probation Requirement, giving the Probation Service a greater role in determining appropriate rehabilitative activity following sentence.
Three new requirements for community and suspended sentence orders also came into force, allowing courts to impose driving prohibition requirements, public event attendance prohibition requirements and drinking establishment entry prohibition requirements.
Suspended sentences:
The changes introduced on 1st October form part of a broader programme of sentencing reform under the Sentencing Act 2026, with several significant provisions having already come into force earlier in the year.
The Act introduced a presumption in favour of suspending custodial sentences of 12 months or less, subject to statutory exceptions. It also increased the maximum custodial sentence capable of being suspended from two years to three years and extended the maximum period for which sentencing can be deferred from six months to 12 months.
These changes broaden the options available to courts where immediate custody may not be necessary.
What does this mean in practice?
Although the headline release points appear straightforward, the new rules will not apply in the same way to every offender. The position will depend on factors including:
· The type of sentence imposed: the Progression Model applies to Standard Determinate Sentences. Other sentence types, including Life and Extended Determinate Sentences, remain outside the new framework.
· The offence and whether it is excluded: several offences are specifically excluded, these include serious sexual and violent offences.
· The length of the sentence: for prisoners already serving an eligible sentence, implementation is being phased according to sentence length, meaning the new provisions do not take effect for everyone at the same time.
· Whether multiple sentences are being served: the position can be more complex where an offender is serving more than one sentence, particularly where one offence is excluded from the new framework, and another is not. Ministry of Justice guidance expressly recognises that an excluded sentence can be served alongside another sentence which is subject to the Progression Model.
The reforms therefore amount to more than a change in release dates. They represent a wider shift in the balance between custody and supervision in the community, making the nature of the offence, sentence type and individual circumstances increasingly important when determining when and how an offender will be released.
