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A–D category: Not yet verified.
Official guide description: High security prison
Official guide · Checked 13 September 2026. This wording does not establish an A–D category.
Predominant function (2025/26): Reception
Ministry of Justice performance classification. This describes the stated performance year, not a current A–D category or the categories of every prisoner.
Monthly snapshot: 24 August 2026
Operational capacity is the capacity reported for this prison in the same monthly bulletin.
Official monthly spreadsheet · Ministry of Justice publication
Prison site location
View on the prisons map
Location information checked 13 September 2026.
19 May 2025
Report on an independent review of progress at HMP Belmarsh by HM Chief Inspector of Prisons, 7–9 April 2025. Good or reasonable progress had been made on many of the concerns raised at the full inspection in June 2024. Cleanliness had improved, more prisoners were…
16 September 2024
Located in south-east London and opened in the early 1990s, Belmarsh is one of the most important prisons in the country. As well as a reception prison where most men are on remand or unsentenced, it is also the high security prison for the capital…
27 May 2022
the inspection seriously and, in most areas, our findings were encouraging, with reasonable progress found against most recommendations. Report of an independent review of progress at HMP Belmarsh 3 1.5 The governance of use of force and violence were much better and there was some…
14 November 2021
Belmarsh is a high-security, men’s prison in south-east London that held 675 men at the time of our inspection, of whom nearly 60% were unsentenced and 17% were category A prisoners. Within the jail there is also high secure unit. The prison services the London…
29 November 2025
The IMB reported serious challenges as population pressures intensified, including concerns around young adults, violence, weapons, mental health transfers and capacity.
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