Guidance

Fetal anomaly screening supporting information

Updated 22 April 2026

Applies to England

Introduction

These revised screening standards for the NHS fetal anomaly screening programme (FASP) replace previous versions. They apply to data collected from 1 April 2026 unless stated otherwise in the document.

The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) recommends all eligible pregnant women in England are offered screening to assess the chance of the baby being born with Down’s syndrome (trisomy 21 (T21)), Edwards’ syndrome (trisomy 18 (T18)) and Patau’s syndrome (trisomy 13 (T13)) or a number of physical conditions.

There are 2 pathway requirements specifications (Down’s syndrome, Edwards’ syndrome and Patau’s syndrome screening and 20-week screening scan) available for NHS providers as part of the public health functions exercised by NHS England (NHSE).

National policy is to:

• offer screening to assess the chance of the baby being born with Down’s syndrome, Edwards’ syndrome or Patau’s syndrome - some women may choose not to be screened, or accept screening for some conditions and not others, and it is important their choice is respected
• offer a 20-week screening scan to screen for 11 physical conditions (listed in section 4.4 of the NHS FASP handbook overview. This ultrasound scan is undertaken between 18 weeks plus 0 days and 20 weeks plus 6 days of pregnancy. The screening pathway must be completed by 23 weeks plus 0 days of pregnancy

More information on the programme, including quality assurance, education and training is available.

See the central glossary of terms, NHS population screening explained and NHS.UK for definition of terms. If you would like to see the meaning of an acronym, hover over it with your cursor and you will be able to see the full definition.

Summary of changes from previous version of standards

We have changed some of the FASP standards.

FASP-S01: coverage: T21, T18, T13 screening

This standard is now called FASP-S01: coverage: combined screening

FASP-S03: diagnosis or intervention: test turnaround time quantitative fluorescence-polymerase chain reaction (QF-PCR)

We have added the NIPT experimental metric FASP NIPT-S06, used during the evaluative roll out, to this standard.

We have added to the denominator samples where the indication for QF-PCR testing was a higher chance or ‘no result’ NIPT screening result.

New standards

We have added the following new standards (these were previously NIPT experimental metrics)

FASP-S09: coverage: NIPT

• This was previously NIPT experimental metric FASP NIPT-S01
• The inclusion and exclusion criteria were updated as the eligibility criteria for NIPT was revised
• This standard becomes KPI FA5

FASP-S10: test: turnaround time NIPT

• This was previously NIPT experimental metric FASP NIPT-S03
• Data will be collected and submitted quarterly (previously monthly) by Genomic Medicine Service (previously NCARDRS)

FASP-S11: referral: timeliness of information and support

• This was previously NIPT experimental metric FASP NIPT-S04
• This standard becomes KPI FA6

FASP-S12: diagnosis and intervention: timeliness of prenatal diagnosis (PND)

• This was previously NIPT experimental metric FASP NIPT-S05
• This standard becomes KPI FA7

Pathway themes

NHS FASP screening standards look at 4 themes to assess the pathway and 6 KPIs are derived from standards 1, 2, 6, 9, 11 and 12.

Theme: coverage

The related standards are:

FASP-S01: coverage: combined screening (KPI FA3)

FASP-S02: coverage: 20-week screening scan (KPI FA2)

FASP-S09: coverage: NIPT (KPI FA5)

Theme: diagnosis or intervention

The related standard is:

FASP-S03: diagnosis or intervention: test turnaround time quantitative fluorescence-polymerase chain reaction (QF-PCR)

FASP-S12: diagnosis and intervention: timeliness of prenatal diagnosis (PND) (KPI FA7)

Theme: test

The related standards are:

FASP-S04: test: 20-week screening scan

FASP-S05: test: turnaround time T21, T18, T13 screening

FASP-S06: test: inadequate samples for T21, T18, T13 screening (KPI FA4)

FASP-S10: test: turnaround time NIPT

Theme: referral

The related standards are:

FASP-S07: referral: timeliness to information and support (T21, T18 ,T13)

FASP-S08: referral: timeliness to intervention (20-week screening scan)

FASP-S11: referral: timeliness of information and support (NIPT) (KPI FA6)

Resources to support providers and commissioners

Additional FASP operational guidance is included in the programme handbook.

Reporting and publishing standards

We publish annual standards and quarterly KPI data.

Services can also access the quarterly KPI submission templates.