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Scottish Cervical Screening Programme Statistics

This dataset provides annual cervical screening statistics in Scotland, including information on uptake by age group and NHS Board. In addition, data are presented on laboratory turnaround times, number of screening tests and results of tests by NHS Board and laboratory.

From the financial year 2016/2017, cervical screening is routinely offered to women aged 25-64 in Scotland; those aged 25-49 every three years and those aged 50-64 every five years.

Please note this publication series is currently under review due to recent identification of data quality issues. Users should be aware that the previously published estimates might be inaccurate. We are currently assessing the impact of the quality issues on the published statistics and will update this note when that work is complete.

We are also currently working to develop new statistics that will better reflect how screening services are now delivered. Future publications based on this data will be treated as ‘Official Statistics in development’ and updated publication plans will be announced on the PHS Forthcoming Publications webpage. PHS have informed the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) of this work.

As we look to improve future publication of the data, we welcome all feedback from users. Please contact the team at phs.cancerstats@phs.scot.

Further information on cervical screening in Scotland can be found in the most recent annual publication. The date of the next release can be found on our list of forthcoming publications.

Data and Resources

Additional Info

Field Value
Source Scottish Cervical Call Recall System (SCCRS)
Author PHS Population Health Team
Last Updated March 26, 2025, 11:51 (GMT)
Created May 28, 2020, 13:25 (BST)
Contact Address Public Health Scotland, NHS National Services Scotland, Gyle Square, 1 South Gyle Crescent, Edinburgh EH12 9EB
Subject Conditions and Diseases
Frequency Annual
Time frame of data and timeliness No delays between data availability and processing of data for publication, PHS publish the latest financial years data in September.
Coverage Covers uptake back to 1997/98 and workload statistics back to 2007/08. No data for NHS Borders, NHS Dumfries & Galloway and Island Boards due to no laboratories processing tests in these boards.
Completeness At time of extraction, data for the most recent year are estimated to be accurate.
Accuracy Cervical Screening data are subject to quality assurance procedures. Reported data are compared to previous years' figures and to expected trends.
Continuity of data Annual uptake figures (of females who had a record of a previous screening test taken within last 3.5 or 5.5 years) by NHS Board are reported for 2016/17, 2017/18 and 2018/19 only. Due to changes in the age and frequency and how the NHS Board has been allocated, uptake statistics are presented from 2016/17 in a separate resource. From Monday 6th June 2016, the age range of cervical screening changed from ages 20–60 years, to ages 25–64 years. The frequency of cervical screening continued to be every three years from age 25 to age 49, but changed to be every five years for women from age 50 to 64. Women on non-routine screening (where screening results have shown changes that require further investigation/follow up) are now invited up to age 70 years (a change from previous arrangements up to age 68). Therefore, cervical screening uptake is not directly comparable with data prior to 2016/17. Annual workload data showing the number of cervical screening tests processed by NHS Board/laboratory are reported from 2007/08.
Concepts and definitions Please see Cervical Screening FAQ and Glossary document found at the bottom of the Cervical Screening homepage.
Disclosure The PHS protocol on Statistical Disclosure Protocol is followed.
Revision statement A national IT system, the Scottish Cervical Call Recall System (SCCRS), was introduced across Scotland in May 2007 to standardise the recording of cervical screening information. The SCCRS system has improved the quality of the data collected. Data included in this publication prior to May 2007 is compiled from legacy applications.
Official statistics designation National Statistics
Relevance and key uses of the statistics PHS's Scottish Cervical Screening Programme statistics are designed for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of the Scottish Cervical Screening Programme. The statistics are used for a variety of purposes.
Format csv
Language English
Links

Scottish Cervical Screening publication

PHS cervical screening topic page

Cervical Screening FAQ

Cervical Screening Glossary