NHS urges 50-somethings to return bowel cancer screening kits

Just 56.2% of 54-year-olds completed England’s free bowel cancer screening in the year to March 31, 2025, a rate well below the 73.5% recorded among 70- to 74-year-olds. The NHS sends a free faecal immunochemical test, or FIT, to people aged 50 to 74 every two years, yet the latest figures show that many people in their 50s are still not returning the home test kit.

The test is designed to be done at home, with a small stool sample collected and sent back in a prepaid envelope. That makes it simple in clinical terms, but it also depends on the recipient opening the kit, completing it and posting it back, a chain that can be broken by delay, forgetfulness or reluctance. The participation gap between 54-year-olds and those in their early 70s shows how much harder that final step remains for younger eligible adults.

The screening programme still reached almost 5.2 million people in the year, nearly half a million more than the year before as the programme expanded. It also diagnosed around 100 cancers a week on average over the same period, underlining why officials are pressing for higher uptake among people in their 50s, where participation has lagged most sharply.

Prof Peter Johnson, NHS national clinical director for cancer, said bowel cancer can develop without any symptoms and that catching it early saves lives. NHS England says the programme is intended to diagnose bowel cancers earlier, improving the chances of successful treatment and survival.

The National Cancer Plan for England sets a longer-term target for home-testing kits, saying they are expected to contribute to 17,000 earlier diagnoses by 2035 and save almost 6,000 lives. The programme already sends FIT kits automatically to eligible people, and those aged 75 and over can request one by phoning the NHS bowel cancer screening helpline, part of the effort to keep screening accessible as the programme expands.