Guidance

Fetal anomaly screening programme handbook

National guidance, information and processes for the NHS fetal anomaly screening programme (FASP).

From:

NHS England

Published:

9 July 2015

Last updated:

2 September 2026

Show all updates

2 September 2026
Updated guidance in "Screening in in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) pregnancies" section
15 July 2026
Minor amendments to 'Lower chance NIPT screening result letter template' (removal of 'lower chance result for Edwards’ syndrome' and 'lower chance result for Patau’s syndrome' from bullet point list ).
22 April 2026
Multiple updates and amendments to ‘Overview’, ‘Screening for Down’s syndrome, Edwards’ syndrome and Patau’s syndrome’, ‘Prenatal Diagnosis’, ‘Quality Assurance’, ‘Education and training’ in FASP handbook. Incorporation of material from 'Screening for Down’s syndrome, Edwards’ syndrome and Patau’s syndrome: non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT)' (now withdrawn), including ‘NIPT screening request form: minimum data field requirements’ and ‘Lower chance result templates’.
29 January 2026
Sections 2.3, 7.4 and 9 of the ‘Screening for Down’s syndrome, Edwards’ syndrome and Patau’s syndrome’ chapter and section 1 of the ‘quality assurance’ chapter updated. Section 2.3 – wording added on using early dating scans for the purpose of screening Section 7.4 – wording updated on referral pathway for vanished twins Section 9 – section reworded and includes the standardisation of reporting chance results Section 1 – wording added on governance requirements for NHS FASP laboratories
15 May 2025
Data section 2.2: Updated table outlining the detection rates for the various physical and serious cardiac conditions to reflect the most up to date standards.
16 December 2024
Changed the second image under 'Example 2' in the quality assurance chapter.
8 October 2024
Added clarification that publication was previously published by Public Health England.
19 February 2024
Updated reference of PHE to NHS England
22 November 2023
Changed contact email. Added wording to provide clarity on IVF pregnancies and age of donor Added information on measurements for combined and quadruple tests in twin pregnancies Amended wording for the 20-week screening scan. Amended wording for completing the 20-week screening scan to provide clarity to when the rescan should be offered.
4 May 2023
Minor amends made to a few pages in the Screening for Down’s syndrome, Edwards’ syndrome and Patau’s syndrome HTML piece and a revised edition of the Request form and data fields required for Down’s syndrome, Edwards’ syndrome and Patau’s syndrome screening form.
12 October 2022
Updated links in all sections. Additional information on the quadruple test (screening for Down's, Edward's and Patau's section). Updated information on the PND procedure timeframe (prenatal diagnosis section). Clarification of the image review process (section 4.1 of the quality assurance section). Updates to sections 2.1 and 2.1 of the data section.
5 July 2022
Updated education and training chapter, templates for induction of qualified staff (no DQASS report in last 6 months and concerns identified), and template for trainee ultrasound practitioners. Includes new information following the introduction of reporting spread on DQASS feedback plots.
10 December 2021
Added more information about annual audit of samples in chapters 2 and 5.
18 August 2021
Added lower chance result letter templates.
23 July 2021
Added new html version of the screening handbook.
17 September 2018
Updated edition of programme handbook valid from August 2018.
9 July 2015
First published.

Applies to England

Documents

Screening for Down’s syndrome, Edwards’ syndrome and Patau’s syndrome

HTML