Attendance at first NHS mammogram appointments in England reached its highest level in a decade during the 2024/25 NHS Breast Screening Programme, with a substantial increase in early cancer diagnoses as a result, new figures published by NHS England reveal.

Data showed that 1.94 million women aged 50-70 booked and attended a mammogram appointment within six months of receiving their invitation between April 2024 to March 2025, up from 1.75 million the year before – an increase of nearly 200,000 attendances.

The higher turnout led to 19,291 breast cancers being identified through screening, equating to around nine diagnoses per 1,000 women screened. This represented an increase of 16% in detected cancers compared with the previous year’s figure of 16,677, indicating that many more women were able to begin treatment at an earlier and more treatable stage of the disease.

Attendance among women invited for a mammogram for the first time, mostly those aged 50-54, rose sharply, reaching 63.6% – a level not seen in 10 years.

In total, 4.79 million eligible women became up to date with their screening under the programme’s three-year standard, marking another decade-high figure.

Overall coverage stood at around 71.8%, up 1.8 percentage points from the prior year.

NHS England said that local services had been working to raise attendance by sending reminder text messages, carrying out targeted outreach in areas with lower uptake and increasing the availability of mobile screening units to bring services closer to communities.

It also launched its first-ever national breast screening campaign in February 2025 to support more women in coming forward.

Mammogram coverage concerns

Despite these improvements, the data highlighted that around three in 10 women who were offered a mammogram still did not take up the invitation.

The charity Breast Cancer Now, which helped to promote the NHS England campaign, has warned that the latest data ‘continues a decades-long trend of especially poor screening attendance amongst first-time invitees, impacting uptake of subsequent screening invitations’.

Indeed, in 2024/25, only 20.9% of women in England who had never previously taken up mammogram invitations attended, compared to 89.1% uptake amongst women who had been screened in the last five years.

Last year, a Swedish study reported that women who don’t attend their first mammogram face a 40% higher risk of dying from breast cancer in the long-term.

Nevertheless, the charity acknowledged that overall uptake in England reaching the 70% minimum standard for the second consecutive year ‘is encouraging’.

Claire Rowney, chief executive of Breast Cancer Now, said: ‘We estimate that if screening uptake levels had reached the achievable target of 80% in 2024/25, over a quarter of a million (259,519) more women would have undergone routine screening, and an estimated additional 2,228 breast cancers would have been found. The scale of the missed opportunity is stark and unacceptable.

‘We know what works. Now we must ensure every eligible woman attends when invited.’

Dr Harrison Carter, director of screening at NHS England, said: ‘Breast screening can save lives. With nearly 20,000 cancers detected early through screening last year, it’s encouraging to see more women attending, especially those invited for the first time, because making screening a habit can help protect your health for years to come.’

He added: ‘But we know there are a range of reasons why some women don’t come forward and there is much more still to do to support more women to access breast screening.’

Breast Cancer Now’s survey results from last year’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month revealed that 45% of women in the UK do not regularly check their breasts for possible signs and symptoms of breast cancer – a four-year high.