Community order

A sentence served in the community instead of prison, with requirements such as unpaid work, a curfew or probation supervision, lasting up to three years.

A community order is a sentence for adults, served in the community, which can last up to three years. The court must include at least one requirement, chosen from a list that includes unpaid work (40 to 300 hours), a rehabilitation activity requirement (to be renamed the probation requirement from 1 October 2026), a curfew, an exclusion zone, electronic monitoring, alcohol abstinence monitoring, drug or alcohol treatment, mental health treatment and accredited programmes. From 1 October 2026, for offences committed on or after that date, the Sentencing Act 2026 will also let courts ban people from driving, attending certain public events or entering pubs and bars; at the time of writing this is not yet in force. The Probation Service supervises the order. Breaching it without a reasonable excuse can lead to a warning, stricter requirements, a fine or being resentenced for the original offence, which can include prison. For under-18s, the equivalent sentence is a youth rehabilitation order.

Checked as at 25 September 2026. General information only, not legal advice.