Suffrago UK Data Hub
RankingsVerificationMethods

Independent service run by Suffrago – not an official government website. Every figure comes from an official UK publisher under its open licence and is checked against that source each time the data is refreshed.

Universal Credit sanction rate, Great Britain

Official statistics, not accredited

The share of people on Universal Credit in the conditionality regimes where sanctions can apply who had a sanction, each month since January 2017, Great Britain.

Great Britain

5.2%

May 2026

Verified against source, 27 October 2026, 05:52 UTC
Sanction rate
0%5%10%15%Jan 17Aug 18Mar 20Oct 21May 23Dec 24May 265.2%

Source: Department for Work and Pensions. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

Data table

113 periods, newest first

PeriodSanction rate
May 20265.2%
Apr 20265.1%
Mar 20265.6%
Feb 20265.5%
Jan 20265.4%
Dec 20254.9%
Nov 20256.0%
Oct 20255.9%
Sep 20255.9%
Aug 20255.6%
Jul 20255.4%
Jun 20255.6%
May 20255.3%
Apr 20255.4%
Mar 20255.7%
Feb 20255.5%
Jan 20255.4%
Dec 20244.7%
Nov 20245.6%
Oct 20245.6%
Sep 20245.7%
Aug 20245.6%
Jul 20245.6%
Jun 20246.2%
May 20246.2%
Apr 20246.3%
Mar 20246.7%
Feb 20246.6%
Jan 20246.6%
Dec 20236.4%
Nov 20237.2%
Oct 20237.3%
Sep 20237.3%
Aug 20237.1%
Jul 20236.9%
Jun 20236.9%
May 20236.7%
Apr 20236.5%
Mar 20236.9%
Feb 20236.8%
Jan 20236.7%
Dec 20227.1%
Nov 20227.1%
Oct 20227.1%
Sep 20227.2%
Aug 20227.1%
Jul 20226.8%
Jun 20226.9%
May 20226.6%
Apr 20226.3%
Mar 20225.8%
Feb 20225.0%
Jan 20224.4%
Dec 20214.1%
Nov 20213.5%
Oct 20212.7%
Sep 20212.0%
Aug 20211.4%
Jul 20210.8%
Jun 20210.4%
May 20210.2%
Apr 20210.2%
Mar 20210.2%
Feb 20210.2%
Jan 20210.2%
Dec 20200.2%
Nov 20200.2%
Oct 20200.2%
Sep 20200.2%
Aug 20200.2%
Jul 20200.3%
Jun 20200.4%
May 20200.4%
Apr 20201.0%
Mar 20202.5%
Feb 20202.7%
Jan 20202.7%
Dec 20193.0%
Nov 20193.1%
Oct 20193.2%
Sep 20193.5%
Aug 20193.5%
Jul 20193.3%
Jun 20193.2%
May 20193.2%
Apr 20193.2%
Mar 20193.2%
Feb 20193.3%
Jan 20193.5%
Dec 20184.0%
Nov 20184.2%
Oct 20184.1%
Sep 20184.1%
Aug 20184.0%
Jul 20184.2%
Jun 20184.3%
May 20184.6%
Apr 20185.2%
Mar 20186.7%
Feb 20187.7%
Jan 20188.3%
Dec 20178.3%
Nov 20178.9%
Oct 20178.9%
Sep 20178.8%
Aug 20178.7%
Jul 20179.0%
Jun 20178.9%
May 20179.1%
Apr 20179.4%
Mar 201711.0%
Feb 201711.6%
Jan 201711.8%

Download CSVDownload JSON with full provenance

Source and licence

Publisher
Department for Work and Pensions
Check it yourself
https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/benefit-sanctions-statistics
Licence
Open Government Licence v3.0 – Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Retrieved
27 October 2026, 05:50 UTC
Raw files fetched

Verification

Verified against source, 27 October 2026, 05:52 UTC Run at 27 October 2026, 05:52 UTC; 113 of 113 figures matched the live source.

ResultCheckDetail
PassProvenance recordedDepartment for Work and Pensions; Open Government Licence v3.0; retrieved 2026-10-27T05:50:19Z; 2 raw file(s)
PassRaw files match recorded SHA-2562 of 2 files intact
PassRe-parsing raw files reproduces figures113 of 113 figures and the headline reproduced
PassFigures are finite numbers113 figures, 0 invalid
PassLive source matches every figure113 of 113 figures match exactly after downloading 2 source file(s) again (2 byte-identical); the headline matches
PassGOV.UK table is currentlatest period 2026-05 ended 149 days before retrieval (limit 200), from Data tables: Benefit Sanctions statistics to May 2026
PassRate equals people with a sanction over people who can be sanctioned113 of 113 figures match people with a sanction divided by people in the regimes where one can apply, each month, to three decimal places of a proportion
PassGOV.UK release headline agrees1 of 1 figures match the release's headline, 5.2% in May 2026, in https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/benefit-sanctions-statistics-to-may-2026/benefit-sanctions-statistics-to-may-2026
PassSource page answershttps://www.gov.uk/government/collections/benefit-sanctions-statistics – HTTP 200

Notes

  • People on Universal Credit with a sanction at a point in each month, as a share of everyone in the conditionality regimes where a sanction can apply: searching for work, working with requirements, planning for work and preparing for work. DWP gives the share to three decimal places of a proportion.
  • DWP applies disclosure control to the counts behind the rate. Earlier months can be revised.