HPV Self-Testing

Cervical screening is one of the best ways to protect yourself from cervical cancer. However, for those women and people with a cervix, who have not attended cervical screening following previous invitations, the NHS is offering HPV self-testing as an alternative check for a virus called human papillomavirus (HPV).

HPV is a common virus and is usually harmless, but some high-risk types can increase your chance of developing cervical cancer. If you are eligible, the NHS will invite you to take part in HPV self-testing. Your invite could come through the NHS App, in a text message (SMS), an email or a letter. 

Once you’ve been invited, it’s easy to order your free kit in the NHS App or through your NHS online account or via the order telephone line. HPV self-testing is different from cervical screening. You can do it yourself, in private. 

The test involves inserting a swab (a bit like a cotton bud) a few centimetres into your vagina to collect a sample. You then post the sample back to the NHS for free, where it is checked for high-risk HPV. 

If you are registered at a GP practice in London, aged 25.5 to 64 and are at least 6 months overdue cervical screening, you can contact your GP practice to discuss if HPV self-testing is right for you. If it is, you will need to complete an HPV self-testing kit in the general practice in a private space in the practice, and your sample will be sent to the laboratory for testing. All GPs in north east London are now offering this service. 

If you have not completed an HPV self-testing kit in your general practice, you may also receive an invitation to order an HPV self-testing kit through the NHS App, an SMS, email or letter (from Autumn 2026).

If high-risk HPV is found, it does not mean you have cervical cancer. You’ll be asked to book a cervical screening appointment at your GP surgery where a nurse or doctor will take a small sample of cells from your cervix. This will be checked for cell changes that could increase the risk of cervical cancer. 

These changes can be treated. We don’t yet have the evidence to show that switching to HPV self-testing is as effective at preventing cervical cancer as regularly attending cervical screening, when invited. But if you haven’t been screened, self-testing is the next best option. If you are due cervical screening or have missed your previous cervical screening invitations, you can still book a cervical screening appointment any time – even if you were invited for cervical screening months or years ago.

Read more about cervical screening: https://www.nelcanceralliance.nhs.uk/cervical-screening