Category 1
People subject to notification requirements. This is the figure commonly described as people on the “sex offenders’ register”.
MAPPA and registered sex offender statistics
Official area counts and long-term context for England and Wales, with careful definitions and no names or residential addresses.
England and Wales · 31 March 2025
73,047
Category 1 people subject to notification requirements and managed under MAPPA in the community.
Official Ministry of Justice publication →
This is a statistical dashboard, not a public register of people.
MAPPA figures describe people managed by criminal-justice agencies across large administrative areas. They cannot identify a street, household or individual, and they must not be used to accuse anyone. If you have a safeguarding concern about a named person with access to a child, use the police-run Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme.
Two totals that must not be confused
The familiar phrase “registered sex offenders” refers here to MAPPA Category 1: People subject to sexual-offender notification requirements. It is not the total number of people managed under MAPPA.
All MAPPA categories
Category 1 plus violent offenders, other people assessed as presenting a serious risk of harm, and eligible national-security cases.
Category 1 per 100,000
The official national rate uses the England and Wales population aged 10 or over, not the whole population.
The national trend since 2009
Counts at 31 March each year. The total MAPPA population changed by 42% between 2015 and 2025; Category 1 changed by 48%.
All MAPPA categoriesCategory 1
2009
2013
2017
2021
2025
The total series begins in 2009 because earlier published totals are marked as unavailable in the official table. Category 4 was introduced in 2022/23. Changes can reflect legislation, eligibility, management practice and population as well as offending.
Compare all 42 MAPPA areas
Search an area and choose a measure. Counts and rates answer different questions; neither is a personal safety score.
Showing all 42 areas
| MAPPA area | Category 1 | Rate per 100,000 aged 10+ | All categories | 2024–25 orders and outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Avon and Somerset | 1,904 | 117 | 2,478 | View detail
|
| Bedfordshire | 742 | 114 | 1,017 | View detail
|
| Cambridgeshire | 1,075 | 130 | 1,283 | View detail
|
| Cheshire | 1,620 | 159 | 1,995 | View detail
|
| County Durham | 1,153 | 196 | 1,476 | View detail
|
| Cumbria | 737 | 159 | 875 | View detail
|
| Derbyshire | 1,463 | 149 | 1,843 | View detail
|
| Devon and Cornwall | 2,138 | 128 | 2,550 | View detail
|
| Dorset | 857 | 118 | 1,009 | View detail
|
| Dyfed-Powys | 666 | 140 | 808 | View detail
|
| Essex | 2,099 | 123 | 2,665 | View detail
|
| Gloucestershire | 770 | 128 | 952 | View detail
|
| Greater Manchester | 4,437 | 168 | 5,872 | View detail
|
| Gwent | 1,073 | 200 | 1,309 | View detail
|
| Hampshire | 2,418 | 131 | 2,990 | View detail
|
| Hertfordshire | 918 | 84 | 1,095 | View detail
|
| Humberside | 1,487 | 173 | 2,022 | View detail
|
| Kent | 2,030 | 119 | 2,856 | View detail
|
| Lancashire | 2,565 | 180 | 3,435 | View detail
|
| Leicestershire | 1,166 | 112 | 1,509 | View detail
|
| Lincolnshire | 949 | 133 | 1,124 | View detail
|
| London | 7,400 | 92 | 11,220 | View detail
|
| Merseyside | 2,126 | 161 | 3,057 | View detail
|
| Norfolk | 1,286 | 151 | 1,444 | View detail
|
| North Wales | 1,078 | 171 | 1,398 | View detail
|
| North Yorkshire | 1,002 | 130 | 1,208 | View detail
|
| Northamptonshire | 952 | 132 | 1,170 | View detail
|
| Northumbria | 2,122 | 156 | 3,069 | View detail
|
| Nottinghamshire | 2,019 | 190 | 2,944 | View detail
|
| South Wales | 1,975 | 161 | 2,595 | View detail
|
| South Yorkshire | 1,881 | 148 | 2,695 | View detail
|
| Staffordshire | 1,501 | 143 | 1,846 | View detail
|
| Suffolk | 1,013 | 143 | 1,186 | View detail
|
| Surrey | 839 | 76 | 1,052 | View detail
|
| Sussex | 2,246 | 141 | 2,779 | View detail
|
| Teesside | 975 | 183 | 1,404 | View detail
|
| Thames Valley | 2,107 | 90 | 2,784 | View detail
|
| Warwickshire | 660 | 117 | 828 | View detail
|
| West Mercia | 1,754 | 145 | 2,059 | View detail
|
| West Midlands | 3,498 | 132 | 5,183 | View detail
|
| West Yorkshire | 3,532 | 165 | 4,783 | View detail
|
| Wiltshire | 814 | 119 | 974 | View detail
|
Read the area rate carefully
The denominator is the resident population aged 10 or over. MAPPA areas are not postcode districts, and people can move between areas. A higher rate does not prove that residents face a higher immediate risk. Small differences can reflect local population structure and management arrangements.
What the four MAPPA categories mean
MAPPA is a management framework. A category is not a prediction that a person will commit another offence.
Category 1
People subject to sexual-offender notification requirements.
Category 2
People convicted of specified violent offences and certain other eligible offences.
Category 3
Other people assessed as capable of causing serious harm who require active multi-agency management.
Category 4
People convicted of terrorism or terrorism-connected offences who meet the MAPPA eligibility rules.
95,639 people were managed at Level 1, 1,218 at Level 2 and 193 at Level 3 on 31 March 2025. Higher management level means more intensive multi-agency co-ordination; it is separate from the four eligibility categories.
Orders, breaches and serious further offences
These figures describe different legal events during 2024–25. They must not be added together or treated as a conviction rate.
SHPOs imposed
Sexual Harm Prevention Orders imposed by courts. Not every person subject to notification requirements has an SHPO.
Notification breaches
1,932 convictions and 490 cautions for breaches of notification requirements.
Serious further offence charges
Charges recorded during 2024–25 among MAPPA-eligible people.
Serious further offence convictions
Convictions recorded during 2024–25. They do not necessarily relate to that year’s charges because cases take time.
Sarah’s Law: The right way to ask
The Child Sex Offender Disclosure Scheme lets anyone ask the police whether a named person with access to a named child has convictions for child sexual offences or presents another known risk.
It is a safeguarding process, not an open database. Police assess each request and, if disclosure is necessary and proportionate, give information to the person best placed to protect the child. That may not be the applicant.
Read the official public guidanceWho can apply?
Anyone with a concern, including a parent, carer, relative, friend or neighbour.
How do I apply?
Use the relevant police force’s online process, call 101 or visit a police station. The police will verify identities and the relationship to the child.
Will I receive a record?
Not automatically. Police disclose only what is necessary to safeguard the child, and recipients must keep it confidential.
Is a child in immediate danger?
Call 999. For a non-emergency safeguarding concern, call 101.
Keep three evidence systems separate
MAPPA statistics
Count eligible people managed in the community, management levels, court orders and specified outcomes. They do not count all sexual offences.
Police-recorded sexual offences
Count offences recorded by police. The Home Office reported that 4.2% of sexual offences recorded in the year ending March 2025 had a charge or summons outcome by year-end; 32.3% were still open. Later updates can change the outcome rate.
Read the official crime outcomes bulletin →Crime Survey estimates
Estimate victimisation whether or not it was reported to police. ONS warns that many sexual offences do not come to police attention, so survey and police figures answer different questions.
Read the ONS sexual offences analysis →Sources and method
MAPPA annual report 2024–25Accredited official statistics and commentary
National data tablesHistorical counts, rates, orders and outcomes
Area-level data tablesAll 42 geographic MAPPA areas
Notes and definitionsOfficial definitions, caveats and data quality
CrimeRate reproduces the official workbook values, validates the national reconciliation and presents them without personal enrichment. Geographic area totals exclude the separate National Security Division; its 209 Category 4 cases are included in the national total. The scheduled importer checks the official GOV.UK collection daily and only publishes a new snapshot after these reconciliations pass.
Continue with related national evidence
MAPPA statistics describe managed people, not all recorded sexual offences. Use the UK crime reports to choose a report by statistical unit, or the crime and demographics guide before comparing arrest, court or custody populations.