Public Figures

Britain’s official statistics

Prison population and capacity

Foston Hall · August 2026

Foston Hall prison is holding 285 people in the 290 certified places in use — 98% 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.

98%

full

285 people in accommodation certified for 290, August 2026

That is the joint 69th-fullest of the 120 establishments in the August 2026 bulletin.

It is not holding more people than its certified places in use this month.

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. … 61 establishments between
    72ndFoston Hall98%
  12. 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 Foston Hall

Mar 201887%–123% 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 202628529098%
Jul 202628829099%
Jun 2026296290102%
May 202628629099%
Apr 202627129093%
Mar 2026290290100%
Feb 2026295290102%
Jan 202628229097%
Dec 2025299290103%
Nov 2025291290100%
Oct 202527029093%
Sep 2025291290100%

What the bulletin publishes, and what it means

Baseline CNA290
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 CNA290
Baseline CNA less those places not available for immediate use — damaged cells, cells affected by building works.
Operational capacity314
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.
Population285
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.