The Government is guided by the independent scientific advice of the UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC), and it is only where the offer to screen provides more good than harm that a screening programme is recommended. The UK NSC makes its recommendations based on internationally recognised criteria and a rigorous evidence review and consultation process.

As screening programmes can also cause harms, each of the adult screening programmes has both an upper and lower age range, within which there is good scientific evidence that the benefits of screening outweigh the harms.

Women younger than the age of 50 are not routinely screened for breast cancer due to the lower risk of women under this age developing breast cancer, and the fact that women below 50 tend to have denser breasts. The denseness of breast tissue reduces the ability of getting an accurate mammogram, the accepted screening test for breast cancer.

Due to this and other factors, there is a risk of over treatment and distress for women who do not have breast cancer but would be subjected to invasive and painful medical treatments and diagnostic tests.

The 2012 UK independent review of breast cancer screening (the Marmot review) estimated that inviting women aged 50-70 reduces mortality from breast cancer in the population invited by 20% and saves an estimated 1,300 lives a year. The Marmot review found that screening women outside the ages of 50-70 could lead to over-diagnosis (referring women for unnecessary tests) and over-treatment (operating on women with disease which is unlikely to cause serious harm to them).

We are in line with most European countries, most of whom screen women between the ages of 50-69.

Women with a very high risk of breast cancer (for example, due to family history) may be offered screening earlier and more frequently, sometimes using MRI rather than a mammogram.

The UK NSC keeps these age brackets under review. The Committee recognises that screening programmes are not static and that, over time, they may need to change to be more effective.

The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) reviewed the evidence relating to the provision of additional breast screening for women who have dense breast tissue in the summer of 2025 and invited stakeholders’ feedback on the findings to inform future work. In addition, the AgeX – age extension – breast screening research trial has been looking at the effectiveness of offering some women an extra screen between the ages of 47 and 49, and between the ages of 71 and 73. When the results are available, the report will be reviewed by the UK NSC.

Department of Health and Social Care