What cervical screening is and who it is for

To reduce your risk of getting cervical cancer you can get free cervical screening through the national cervical screening programme - CervicalCheck.

Cervical cancer is a cancer of the cervix (the neck of the womb).

We use cervical screening to find types of human papillomavirus (HPV) that can cause abnormal (pre-cancerous) cells in your cervix.

If you have any questions you can contact us.

Freephone: 1800 45 45 55

Who can get free cervical screening

Free cervical screening is for women and anyone age 25 to 65 with a cervix.

If you are age 66 or over and have never had cervical screening you can ask your GP for a free cervical screening appointment.

How often you need to cervical screening and how to get an appointment

How to check, update or join the cervical screening register

Steps involved

Who needs cervical screening

You need regular cervical screening if you have had any sexual contact and were born with a cervix.

You need cervical screening even if:

you have had the HPV vaccine
your last sexual contact was a long time ago

Sexual contact includes:

any skin-to-skin contact of your genital area by someone else
touching someone else’s genital area and then touching your own
vaginal, oral or anal sex
sharing sex toys

Talk to your GP about cervical screening if you have not had any sexual contact.

Pregnancy and booking cervical screening

Transgender, non-binary, intersex

You can go for cervical screening if you're transgender, non-binary or intersex and were:

registered female at birth
born with a cervix

Hysterectomy and cervical screening

We still send you reminders to go for cervical screening after you have a hysterectomy.

This is because you may need cervical screening if you had a hysterectomy and:

you still have some cervical tissue
there were abnormal cells changes in your cervix at the time of hysterectomy
the report that includes information on cell changes or cancer is not available

Finding out if you need cervical screening after having a hysterectomy

To find out if you need cervical screening ask the doctor who did your hysterectomy.

CervicalCheck cannot tell you if you need cervical screening after having a hysterectomy. We do not have access to your medical history.

You can write to the hospital or doctor to check:

what type of hysterectomy you had
if you had your cervix removed
if you still need cervical screening

If they tell you that you:

do not need cervical screening, you can opt out of cervical screening
need cervical screening, you will have a test called a vault smear to take a sample from the top of your vagina

Who does not need cervical screening

You do not need cervical screening if you:

are male
if you had radiotherapy for cervical, bladder, rectal or other pelvic cancers

If you had radiotherapy for these cancers, you or your GP can contact us with your medical history. This is so that we do not contact you about cervical screening.

If you have symptoms

Do not go for cervical screening if you have symptoms of cervical cancer.

Urgent advice: Contact your GP immediately if:

you have concerns or symptoms of cervical cancer

Even if a recent cervical screening result did not find HPV, never ignore symptoms.

Steps involved

Find out the steps involved in going for cervical screening and getting your results.

Choosing to have cervical screening

To help you choose if you want to have cervical screening you can read about what cervical screening can and cannot do.

Find more ways to reduce your risk of getting cancer.

Go to the cervical screening register

We keep a register (list) of people who can have free cervical screening.

From age 25 you can:

check if you're on it
join it if you're not on it
give us your up-to-date contact information
use the register to find out when your next cervical screening is due

After age 25 we will send you a letter with your Cervical Screening Programme Identifier (CSPID) number - your unique CervicalCheck number.

How to check, update or join the cervical screening register

Book your free cervical screening appointment

Having cervical screening feels like a smear test - if you had one before.

At any time after age 25 you can book an appointment for free cervical screening at a GP or clinic registered with CervicalCheck. You do not have to wait for a letter or be on the cervical screening register.

At this appointment, a nurse or GP takes a small sample of cells from your cervix (opening of your womb from your vagina) and sends the sample to a lab for testing.

How cervical screening is done

Lab testing and results

In the lab, your cell sample is tested for 14 types of HPV that can cause cervical cancer.

If HPV is found, 2 specialist medical scientists will examine your sample for abnormal cell changes. They may ask a specialist consultant to look at the sample too.

We send you the results and tell you if you need more tests such as a colposcopy.

Results and next steps

Know signs and symptoms

Most results show HPV was not found, but anyone can get cancer at any time, even after cervical screening. You still need to check for signs and symptoms of cervical cancer.

Regular cervical screening

You can book your next appointment for free cervical screening at a GP or clinic when it's due.

We will send you a letter by post to remind you.

Check when you next need cervical screening and how often

Cervical screening information video

Watch this video to find out what cervical screening is and how you can go for cervical screening in Ireland. You will also find out what the symptoms of cervical cancer are.