We classify finite groups in which the centralisers of certain non-central elements are soluble. This includes a full structural description of groups whose non-central element centralisers are all soluble, and a reduction theorem for the case in which all non-central $π$-elements have soluble centralisers, for a suitable collection $π$ of primes. Our results yield further descriptions under mild local conditions and have applications to groups with soluble involution centralisers, as well as to questions concerning non-commuting graphs.
