World Prisons
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United Kingdom · East of England · Clapham, Bedford

Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre

Immigration removalHighmixedLowMedium
Verified · Data dated
Aging · 5mo ago
Sources last reviewed on · data-as-of

Data is aggregated from public sources and may be incomplete or out of date. Always verify with primary sources before acting on any figure. See data sources.

For families

How to send mail, money, and visit Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre

Step-by-step guidance using the United Kingdom system — addresses, money services, visit booking, what to bring on your first visit.

Open toolkit
Photograph of Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre

Gallery

From Wikimedia Commons (CC-BY-SA where not otherwise stated).

  • Yarl's Wood fire aftermath.jpg

    Photo by Shritwod via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

  • Yarlswood IDC - geograph.org.uk - 78530.jpg

    Photo by Oliver White via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)

Immigration removal centre operated under contract to the Home Office. Holds detained men and women pending removal.

Capacity

410

Current population

—

Occupancy

—

Year opened

2001

Operational

Figures from official sources · verified 29 May 2026 · methodology

Facility profile

Operator

Serco

Population held

mixed

Opened

2001

Region

East of England

Security level

High

Death-row facility

No

Conditions

HMI Prisons publishes independent inspection reports on roughly a 3-5 year cycle.

Visiting

Booked online via the GOV.UK Prison Visits Booking system. Photo ID required. Visit frequency depends on the inmate's Incentives & Earned Privileges (IEP) level.

Mailing

Format: Prisoner Name & Number, Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre, Twinwoods Road, MK44 1FD. Cash not accepted — use Send Money to a Prisoner (GOV.UK).

Practical info

Assisted Prison Visits Unit helps low-income families with travel costs. Pact runs many of the on-site visitor centres.

Known issues

Subject of multiple HMIP and oversight reports highlighting concerns over the use of detention for women and torture survivors.

Contact & address

Twinwoods Road, Clapham, Bedford MK44 1FD
+44 1234 821 000
Official site

Conditions Risk Score

Derived signal — not a judgement. How it's calculated

13/100
Low concern13/100
Overcrowding
0/30
Oversight reports
0/30
Structural flags
10/15
Death signals
0/15
Conditions text
3/10

What the score is responding to:

  • · Privately operated under contract
  • · Substantial documented known-issues record
  • · Severe-conditions keyword in sources

This facility scores 13. The national average across 584 scored United Kingdom facilities is 4 — 9 points above national average.

Related facilities

All in United Kingdom →

Same country, matched on type + security level where possible.

Compared to other facilities in United Kingdom

583 peers
Conditions risk scorethis: 13/100 · peers avg: 4/100 (+245%)

Higher risk than 86% of peer facilities in United Kingdom.

Capacity (beds)this: 410 · peers avg: 575 (29%)

Data completeness

94%

How many of our profile fields are populated. We surface this so families and researchers know the limits.

Sources

Cite this page

Under CC-BY-4.0. Include the URL and access date; the site is a living reference and entries can change.

APA
World Prisons. (2026). Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre. Retrieved October 21, 2026, from https://worldprisons.com/prisons/imrc-yarls-wood
Chicago
"Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre." World Prisons. Accessed October 21, 2026. https://worldprisons.com/prisons/imrc-yarls-wood.
BibTeX
@misc{worldprisons-imrc-yarls-wood,
  author = {{World Prisons}},
  title = {Yarl's Wood Immigration Removal Centre},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://worldprisons.com/prisons/imrc-yarls-wood},
  urldate = {2026-10-21}
}