Public Figures

Britain’s official statistics

Prison population and capacity

Exeter · August 2026

Exeter prison is holding 301 people in the 193 certified places in use — 156% full.

Read from the Ministry of Justice’s August 2026 bulletin, in the vintage we archived on 11 October 2026. The count was taken on 24 August 2026.

156%

full

301 people in accommodation certified for 193, August 2026

That is the joint 5th-fullest of the 120 establishments in the August 2026 bulletin.

It has held more people than its certified places in use in every month we hold, back to March 2018.

The fullest establishments in August 2026

  1. 1stLeeds167%
  2. 2ndDurham166%
  3. 3rdWandsworth164%
  4. 4thPreston159%
  5. 5thSwansea156%
  6. 6thExeter156%
  7. 7thDoncaster152%
  8. 8thAltcourse143%
  9. 9thCardiff140%
  10. 10thHull140%
  11. out of 120 establishments with accommodation in use

Population divided by in-use certified normal accommodation, for every establishment in the same bulletin. Establishments with no accommodation in use have no percentage and are left out of the ranking rather than placed at either end of it.

Every month we hold for Exeter

Mar 2018113%–166% across 102 readings on recordAug 2026

One cell per month from Mar 2018 to Aug 2026, shaded from this establishment’s own emptiest month to its fullest. The record starts in March 2018 because that is the first bulletin published as a spreadsheet; earlier months exist only as word-processor files we will not guess at.

The last twelve months

MonthPopulationIn-use CNAFull
Aug 2026301193156%
Jul 2026305193158%
Jun 2026304193158%
May 2026288193149%
Apr 2026296193153%
Mar 2026299193155%
Feb 2026306193159%
Jan 2026306193159%
Dec 2025306193159%
Nov 2025310193161%
Oct 2025306193159%
Sep 2025276193143%

What the bulletin publishes, and what it means

Baseline CNA307
The sum total of all certified accommodation in an establishment, except normally cells in punishment or segregation units and healthcare cells not used for long-stay patients.
In-use CNA193
Baseline CNA less those places not available for immediate use — damaged cells, cells affected by building works.
Operational capacity310
The total number of prisoners an establishment can hold without serious risk to good order, security and the proper running of the planned regime. Determined by Prison Group Directors on the basis of operational judgement and experience.
Population301
The number of people held. The publisher notes that the prison unlock figure may be lower, as the population includes prisoners on authorised absence.

The publisher’s own definitions, quoted from the bulletin. We divide the population by in-use CNA rather than by operational capacity: operational capacity is what an establishment can be pushed to hold, in-use CNA is what it was certified to hold decently, and dividing by the larger of the two flatters every prison in the estate.