Prison Sentences
(asked on 18th December 2025) - View Source
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask His Majesty's Government what was the (1) mean, and (2) median, tariff length for prisoners receiving a life sentence aged (a) under 18, (b) 18 to 20, (c) 21 to 24, (d) 25 to 29, (e) 30 to 34 (f) 35 to 39, (g) 40 to 49, (h) 50 to 59, (i) 60 to 69, and (j) 70 and over, at the time of sentencing, in 2024, and in 2025 to date.
The Ministry of Justice routinely publishes data in Offender Management Statistics Quarterly (OMSQ) on the prison population.
Table 1: Mean Tariff Length for Offenders Receiving a Life Sentence, by Age at Sentencing and Year of Sentence
SENTENCE AGE BAND | 2024 | 2025* |
Under 18 | 15 | 15 |
18 to 20 | 20 | 25 |
21 to 24 | 22 | 22 |
25 to 29 | 23 | 22 |
30 to 34 | 21 | 20 |
35 to 39 | 20 | 19 |
40 to 49 | 21 | 18 |
50 to 59 | 17 | 18 |
60 to 69 | 18 | 22 |
70 and over | 17 | 21 |
Table 2: Median Tariff Length for Offenders Receiving a Life Sentence, by Age at Sentencing and Year of Sentence
SENTENCE AGE BAND | 2024 | 2025* |
Under 18 | 15 | 16 |
18 to 20 | 20 | 21 |
21 to 24 | 22 | 20 |
25 to 29 | 22 | 21 |
30 to 34 | 22 | 18 |
35 to 39 | 19 | 15 |
40 to 49 | 20 | 18 |
50 to 59 | 18 | 18 |
60 to 69 | 18 | 20 |
70 and over | 14 | 20 |
Table notes:
1. *Data for 2025 are up to 30 September 2025.
2. Figures are subject to change as more information about tariff becomes available.
3. Tariff length is the time between date of sentencing and tariff expiry date, and does not take into account any time served on remand.
4. Figures do not include offenders who received a Whole Life Order.
Data sources and quality
The figures in these tables have been drawn from administrative IT systems which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.
Source: Public Protection Unit Database