01/10/2026
The new prison release regime in England and Wales came into force today, 1 October 2026, under the Sentencing Act 2026. The most important change for criminal practitioners is that the automatic release point for many prisoners serving a Standard Determinate Sentence (SDS) has moved substantially earlier.
So, as a simple example, an eligible defendant receiving 3 years’ imprisonment would ordinarily reach automatic release after about 1 year in custody, rather than 14.4 months under SDS40 or 18 months under the traditional halfway rule. The balance of the sentence is not cancelled: it is served in the community under the new licence/supervision arrangements.
Important exclusions
The one-third release rule does not simply apply to everybody. Following the government’s reviews, a significant group of serious offences was excluded. These include r**e, serious child sexual offences/grooming, historic child sexual offences, manslaughter and other unlawful killing offences, and causing death by dangerous or drink driving.
There are now more than 18,000 offenders to whom the new arrangements will not apply. Life and extended determinate sentence prisoners are also outside the SDS change.
What happens after the one-third point?
This is also important: it isn’t intended simply to be “release at one-third and normal licence”.
The government calls the new system the Progression Model. There are essentially three stages:
Prison → intensive supervision in the community → final licence period.
During the community stages the offender remains subject to licence and can be recalled to custody. Probation supervision can include frequent appointments, risk assessments and specific licence restrictions.
From today the government has also introduced substantially expanded licence controls, including electronic tagging, tighter geographical restriction zones for some higher-risk offenders, and the ability to prohibit attendance at places such as pubs, clubs, football matches and other public events. The government says there is now a presumption towards electronic monitoring for offenders leaving prison.
