Why has the system changed?

The reason for the screening change is the fact that the majority of cervical cancers are caused by high-risk HPV, so if your HPV risk is low, then it follows that so too is your risk of cervical cancer.

However, this is where things get complicated, with critics of the new scheme saying that the statistics on this aren’t conclusive. The official resources claim that 99.8% of cervical cancers are caused by the HPV virus, so the chances of developing the disease without HPV are incredibly rare.

But there is still a chance of having cervical cancer without having HPV, and with studies showing that 80% of us come into contact with HPV at some point in our lives, it’s still a risk – although most cases of HPV clear up on their own and don’t go on to cause cancer.

And there is some concern that we don’t seem to have been made aware of the changes, which mainly happened around the time of the pandemic.

Lots of women still believe that they’re being screened for cervical cancer, when in reality, you’ll only be screened for cancer if your sample has HPV indicators. Unless you’re willing and able to pay and go for a private combined HPV and cervical cancer screen.

Cervical screening changes in the UK: here’s everything you need to know, from at-home swabs to HPV testing