Guidance

Cervical screening: care pathway

This document describes the NHS cervical screening care pathway.

• From: NHS England
• Published: 18 August 2021
• Last updated: 25 August 2026
  Show all updates

  1. 25 August 2026

     Updated to reflect new HPV sample taker training guidance

  2. 1 July 2025

     Amendments to flowchart 1 to reflect extension of screening interval to 5 years.

  3. 26 September 2024

     Added clarification that publication was originally published by Public Health England.

  4. 18 August 2021

     First published.

Applies to England

Documents

Cervical screening care pathway

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Details

These flowcharts and text alternatives describe the care pathway for NHS cervical screening. There are 4 flowcharts covering:

• the cervical screening test
• colposcopy management
• abnormal colposcopy result management
• HPV Self-Testing