FOI reference: FOI-2026-3718
You asked
I would grateful if you could provide me with the number of prison officers who have died by suicide.
I require both senior officers/governors and prison officers below the rank of Custodial Manager in both England and Wales for the years 2016 to 2025.
We said
Thank you for your request.
We produce statistics disaggregated by occupation using the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC), which is a common classification of occupational information for the UK. Occupations defined using the Standard Occupation Classification (v.2010), (v.2020). For information on the classification hierarchy please see SOC 2010, or SOC 2020.
We have produced the following ad-hoc datasets that cover suicides by occupation, including prison officers using SOC10, which may answer part of your request:
Suicide by occupation, England and Wales, 2011 to 2021 registrations
Suicide by occupation in England and Wales: 2020 to 2022
The SOC10 codes for prison officers are:
Prison service officers (below principal officer): 3314
Senior officers in fire, ambulance, prison and related services: 1173
The following ad-hoc dataset covers suicides by occupation, including prison officers using SOC20:
Suicide by occupation in England and Wales: 2023 and 2024, provisional
The SOC20 codes for prison officers are:
Prison service officers (below principal officer): 3314
Senior officers in fire, ambulance, prison and related services: 1163
Information on the number of prison officers who have died by suicide for 2025 England and Wales are available to order. Such services are subject to legal frameworks, resources and agreement of costs, subject to our charging policy. If you would like to request this bespoke dataset, please contact Health.Data@ons.gov.uk. As this information is reasonably accessible via another route, even if only accessible on payment, Section 21(2)(a) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA) applies.