How often do I need to be screened?

In Wales, people between the ages of 25 and 64 are invited for cervical screening every five years. It normally takes many years for cervical cancer to develop from any cell changes that may happen in the cervix. Screening every five years can pick up these changes before they become cancer.

The only people who are screened more often than this are:

• People with HIV, who are advised to have screening every year even if no high-risk HPV is found
• People who have high risk HPV found on their screening test but no cell changes
• People who have been seen in a colposcopy clinic, who might need more frequent tests for a period of time

If you have no high-risk HPV found on your screening test, you cannot be screened again any sooner than five years