When do they get out of Berwyn?
Release dates, what time they walk out, home detention curfew, and what to prepare.
The first one helps the next family.
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Official facts for this prison
IMB: 55 applications about release dates and sentence (2025–26)
Source: IMB annual report, HMP Berwyn, 2025–26 · Last checked: July 2026
Offender management unit (OMU) · OMUT.berwyn@justice.gov.uk
Source: Family · Last checked: 21 September 2026
How release dates are set
- Since 1 October 2026, most ordinary standard determinate sentences release at one-third under the Sentencing Act 2026, once the new rule has reached that sentence length. Before that, they release at 40% (SDS40). Licence runs to the end of the sentence.
- People already in custody move by sentence length from 1 October 2026 to 8 June 2027 (SI 2026/953). Anyone sentenced since 1 October 2026 gets one-third from the start. For adults, SDS+ under section 244ZA moves from two-thirds to one-half, except excluded offences.
- Detention under section 250 (under 18) keeps its old point: 40% for most, one-half if the offence was left out of the 40% scheme, or two-thirds for seven years or more for a serious violent or sexual offence. The 1 October 2026 change does not apply.
- Time spent on remand usually counts towards the sentence. Days in custody come off the time left to serve. If they are still waiting, they do not have an automatic release date until they are sentenced.
- Only the prison / offender manager can confirm the actual date. Calculators are estimates.
Getting out of Berwyn
When they walk out
Families picking up at Berwyn say people start coming out around 10am. That is not an HMPPS time.
- Be there for 9:00–9:30 if you are collecting someone. Families who arrived for 9:30 were let into a waiting room. One of those mornings ran until 11am.
- They leave in small groups. A busier morning takes longer. Families expecting about 24 people the same day still aimed for about 9.
- Families say probation and licence paperwork is done in reception before they leave. How long that takes depends on how many people are released that day.
- Families expecting the October 2026 change said a much busier morning could take all day. That is what they expect, not a timetable.
Family reports, September 2026. Not HMPPS.
What has to happen first
- There is no national gate time. The prison discharges the right person on the right date. The minute is local.
- Before the gate they check identity, the warrant against the NOMIS date, and added days. Licence conditions and reporting instructions are explained, and a copy is handed over.
- Eligible people get a subsistence payment of £89.52, a travel warrant or the fare, and clothing if they need it. Stored property goes with them.
- Healthcare sees them in the 24 hours before discharge.
Source: PSI 72/2011 Discharge, revised November 2024 · Last checked: 24 September 2026
Open the discharge instructionThe date is a different question
- The time above is what families reported at Berwyn. It is not the release date, and it can move on a busy morning.
- Use the calculator for an estimate. Only Berwyn can confirm the day they actually leave.
- From 1 October 2026 to 8 June 2027, existing sentences move across in tranches. 1 October 2026 is not one release day for everyone.
What to do next
What this actually means
Families hear a date early and treat it as fixed. It is not. Offence type, whether the one-third rule has reached their sentence yet, exclusions, added days and behaviour all move it.
Use a calculator to get oriented. Then treat the prison’s figure as the only operational date.
The useful work before release is practical: ID, an address, a phone, a bank account. The date is the last thing, not the first.
When do they get out?Questions families ask
Families picking up at Berwyn say people start coming out around 10am. That is not an HMPPS time. Families aim for 9:00–9:30 and have waited in a waiting room. People leave in small groups, and a busier morning runs later. Probation is reported as sorted in reception before they leave. Not HMPPS.
- Use the Sentencing Act 2026 calculator for an estimate. Ordinary SDS is still 40% until that sentence length moves, then 33% unless excluded. Only the prison can confirm the date. IMB: 55 applications about release dates and sentence, 2025–26. What people inside asked the board.
- Home Detention Curfew is separate from automatic release. The calculator can show an HDC window. The prison decides.