Starting next month, NHS England will up the sensitivity of bowel cancer screening tests and refer more people for potentially life-saving follow-ups.

Bowel cancer screening checks for tiny traces of blood in people’s poo using a faecal immunochemical test (FIT), which is completed at home and sent to a lab for analysis. People whose level of blood in their poo is above a certain threshold are then referred for further tests to investigate.

Today’s announcement will lower the threshold for referrals by a third, which should mean bowel cancer screening catches and prevents more cancers.

The NHS estimates that the change will detect an extra 600 bowel cancers early every year in England, ensuring more people can start treatment when it’s more likely to be successful.

The increase in sensitivity should also identify 2,000 more people with high-risk polyps in their bowel each year. Doctors can remove these polyps before they have a chance to develop into cancer.

This move, recommended by the UK National Screening Committee, puts England in line with Scotland and Wales, where the NHS is already using the lower threshold. It is expected to reduce late-stage diagnoses and deaths from bowel cancer in England by around 6%.

“This vital step from NHS England to lower the threshold for further tests after bowel screening will save lives,” said Michelle Mitchell, our chief executive.

“It means more cancers will be detected at an earlier stage, when treatment is more likely to be successful, while also preventing some from developing in the first place. Bowel cancer is the second biggest cause of cancer death in England, so it’s crucial that progress like this continues.”

Making screening tests more sensitive

Currently, NHS England refers people for further investigations when their bowel cancer screening FIT shows they have at least 120 micrograms of blood in each gram of poo. That threshold will now be set at 80 micrograms per gram.

That will mean more people needing follow-on tests like colonoscopies, so it’s important that the NHS has the capacity needed to get people those tests quickly.

A selection of “early adopter” sites in England have already tested the impact of the new threshold. So far, it has detected more than 60 additional bowel cancers and nearly 500 high-risk polyps.

The NHS says these strong early results were made possible by closer working between screening and diagnostic teams, which helped more people get checked sooner.

The next step is to begin rolling out the lower threshold and the more joined up approach across the rest of the country. The NHS is aiming for national coverage by 2028, by which time it will be offering 35% more screening colonoscopies each year.

What does this mean for the bowel cancer screening process?

These changes won’t affect the experience of using a FIT in bowel cancer screening. The screening test will still involve the same process of using the at-home kit to collect a small sample of poo and sending it off in a pre-paid envelope to the lab for testing. 

If you’re aged 50 to 74 and registered with a GP in England, you’ll automatically get a bowel cancer screening kit through the post every two years.

From next month, people who have already taken part in bowel cancer screening will begin receiving information about future screenings for bowel cancer through the NHS App.

Digital reminders, results and text messages will then be rolled out more widely through the rest of 2026. People who need letters, including anyone newly eligible for bowel cancer screening, will continue to receive them.

“Screening is for people without symptoms, so if anyone spots something that isn’t right for them, they should speak to their GP,” said Mitchell. “It probably won’t be cancer, but if it is, finding it early can make a real difference.”