The prison was given a full inspection in February 2026, 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 Aylesbury is a category C training prison in Buckinghamshire for adult men, mostly serving long sentences. It converted from a young offender institution to its current adult role in October 2022, a change inspectors have previously noted came suddenly and without sufficient consultation or support. This inspection rated safety and respect as Reasonably Good, both a full band improved on the 2022 inspection, while purposeful activity and preparation for release remained Not Sufficiently Good.
Inspectors described focused leaders and committed staff driving genuine improvement. Staff knew prisoners well and were proactive in spotting risks around new arrivals and self-harm, violence was lower than at comparable prisons with few serious assaults, and every prisoner had their own clean cell. Unemployment among prisoners fell sharply, from 40% at the 2022 inspection to under 10%, alongside generally good time out of cell. A substance-free living unit for prisoners committed to staying off drugs was praised as better developed than usual, and the visits room was highlighted as strongly accessible.
Four priority concerns kept the overall picture from being more positive. Illicit drug use remained high enough to undermine safety, with roughly a quarter of prisoners testing positive and two drug-related deaths recorded since the last inspection. Self-harm had risen by around 29% since 2022, and case management of prisoners at risk was inconsistent, with poorly coordinated reviews and gaps in care planning. The education and skills curriculum was judged not broad or ambitious enough to meet prisoners’ needs, echoed by a linked Ofsted inspection rating education as requiring improvement. Many prisoners also waited too long, in some cases more than three months, for an initial sentence progression plan, with offender management support inconsistent and delayed, and fewer than seven in ten required annual sentence-plan reviews completed on time. Inspectors also pointed to weak links with the local adult safeguarding board and underdeveloped family-support work.
Charlie Taylor
HM Chief Inspector of Prisons
May 2026
To read the full reports, go to the HM Inspectorate of Prisons website or follow the links below:
- Inspection report, HM Inspectorate of Prisons website, Report on an unannounced inspection of HMP Aylesbury by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons (2–12 February 2026)
- Easy read summary of the 2026 inspection report
- Ofsted report, education and skills findings from the 2026 inspection
- Action plan, HM Prison and Probation Service action plan in response to the 2026 inspection of HMP Aylesbury
- Independent Review of Progress, HM Inspectorate of Prisons review of progress at HMP Aylesbury (29–31 August 2023, published 2 October 2023)
- Inspection report (PDF), Report on an unannounced inspection of HMP & YOI Aylesbury shortly after its conversion to an adult prison (22 November–9 December 2022, published 14 March 2023)
- HMYOI Aylesbury, Report on an unannounced inspection of HMYOI Aylesbury, the prison’s last inspection as a young offender institution