The prison was given a full inspection in September 2025, the full report can be read on the HM Inspectorate of Prisons website, just follow the links below. In their latest report the inspectors said:
HMP & YOI Doncaster is a category B reception and resettlement prison in South Yorkshire, run by Serco, holding young adults and adult men. At the time of the inspection it held 1,115 prisoners, with roughly 700 of them sharing cells originally designed for one person. Inspectors rated safety and respect both Reasonably Good, purposeful activity Not Sufficiently Good, and preparation for release Good, all unchanged from the previous inspection.
The prison’s high-turnover, largely unsentenced population was managed reasonably well overall, with a new lived-experience drug-recovery role, a dedicated hub for vulnerable prisoners, strong family-engagement work and good sports provision among the positives inspectors noted.
Concerns included a self-harm rate higher than at the last inspection and above the average for similar prisons, with weaknesses in how self-harm cases were managed. Around 700 prisoners doubled up in single-design cells left the prison significantly overcrowded, and inspectors found gaps in healthcare oversight, including confidential health screening being carried out in non-confidential communal areas. There were not enough purposeful activity places for the population, dental waits ran to many months, and library services had deteriorated. On release, seven in ten leavers lacked settled accommodation, with a fifth released with nowhere to live at all, and public protection arrangements for higher-risk releases were not consistently applied.
Charlie Taylor
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons
December 2025
To read the full reports, go to the HM Inspectorate of Prisons website or follow the links below:
- Inspection report (PDF), Report on an unannounced inspection of HMP & YOI Doncaster by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (8–18 September 2025, published 8 December 2025)
- Easy read summary of the 2025 inspection report
- Action plan, HM Prison and Probation Service action plan in response to the 2025 inspection of HMP & YOI Doncaster
- HMP & YOI Doncaster, Report on an unannounced inspection of HMP & YOI Doncaster (21–22 February & 28 February–4 March 2022)