Cervical Screening Recall Schedule Changes

From 1st July 2025, a change to the cervical screening recall schedule has taken place nationwide.

What is changing?

At the moment in England, women and people with a cervix aged 25-49 years are routinely invited for cervical screening every 3 years. Those with a negative (normal) smear and HPV test result will now be recalled every 5 years, rather than every 3 years as previously.

Those aged 50 and over will continue with the existing 5-year recall interval.

Why are cervical screening intervals changing?

The Human Papillomavirus (HPV) causes nearly all cervical cancers. We now use a test which is more sensitive and accurate than the previous method (smear test) to look for HPV in your sample. This helps us offer a more personalised approach by finding out who is at higher risk of developing the cervical cell changes that over time, if left untreated, could lead to cervical cancer. This change from 3 to 5 yearly screening is backed by robust scientific evidence – studies have shown that if you test negative for HPV you are extremely unlikely to go on to develop cervical cancer within the next 10 years. So now we have this better test, you don’t need to be screened as often if you don’t have HPV.