New online tool estimates earliest automatic release dates under the biggest shake-up of sentencing in more than a decade — with a API so charities, law firms and advice services can build it into their own support.
Inside Out Justice, the UK non-profit founded by Scott Dylan to campaign for prison reform, has today launched its Sentencing Calculator: a free online tool that helps prisoners and their families estimate the earliest automatic release date under the Sentencing Act 2026.
The Act, which received Royal Assent on 22 January 2026 following the Independent Sentencing Review, makes the most far-reaching changes to sentencing and release in more than a decade. Under its earned progression model, most people serving standard determinate sentences will be released automatically after one third of their sentence, while many serving longer sentences for specified offences will move from release at the two-thirds point to the halfway point — though sentences of seven years or more for the gravest offences remain at two-thirds. Poor behaviour in custody can push release back through additional days.
The reforms are arriving in stages. Since 22 March 2026, courts must in most cases suspend custodial sentences of 12 months or less, and changes to fixed term recall took effect from 31 March. The new release points come into force on 2 September 2026 and will also reach people already in custody in monthly stages according to sentence length, completing on 8 June 2027. The result is a system that even professionals are working hard to keep up with — and one that families on the outside can find almost impossible to navigate.
“A sentence handed down in court is one number, but the date that actually matters to a family — the day their person comes home — is buried in transitional rules, commencement orders and exceptions,” said Scott Dylan, founder of Inside Out Justice.
“The Sentencing Act 2026 has redrawn release dates for thousands of people, and most of those affected have no clear way of finding out what it means for them. The calculator turns dense legislation into a plain-English answer in under a minute.”
The Sentencing Calculator is the first of a suite of free tools on the Inside Out Justice website built to explain what the Act means in practice. Users enter basic sentence details and receive an estimate of the earliest automatic release date under the new framework, alongside clear explanations of the rules that apply to their circumstances.
The organisation has also released an API, allowing other organisations — prison charities, advice services, solicitors and probation support providers — to build the same calculations into their own websites and casework systems.
“No single organisation can reach every family affected by these changes,” Dylan added. “By opening the API for free, any charity helpline can offer the same answers through their own services, at no cost. The law belongs to everyone; understanding it should too.”
The calculator provides estimates only and is not a substitute for legal advice. Several provisions of the Act are still awaiting commencement dates, and Inside Out Justice will keep the tools updated as the Ministry of Justice confirms further detail.
The Sentencing Calculator is available now at insideoutjustice.com/sentencing-calculator.
