News

Year 8 uptake of HPV vaccine improving year-on-year

Pupil wellbeing
Uptake of the HPV vaccine in year 8 is improving year-on-year but is still well behind pre-pandemic levels.
Protection: The HPV vaccine has been offered to all girls in school year 8 since September 2008 and to all year 8 boys since September 2019 - Adobe Stock

Students are first offered the vaccine in year 8 and new data from the UK Health Security Agency shows that uptake during the 2023/24 academic year reached 72.9% for girls – up 1.6% year-on-year – and 67.7% for boys – up 2.5%. Uptake in years 9 and 10 was at similar levels for both girls and boys.

However, with vaccination still lagging behind pre-Covid levels of around 90%, the UK Health Security Agency is urging young people to take-up the vaccine in schools when it is offered.

The vaccination targets the human papillomavirus and evidence shows that it helps protect both boys and girls from HPV-related cancers.

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