NHS England said almost 7m people have bowel screening from the NHS during 2024/25, compared to around 4.7m in 2014/15.

Minister for public health, Sharon Hodgson, said: ‘Bowel cancer screening prevents thousands of unnecessary deaths every single year, and this progress shows what can be achieved when the NHS focuses on catching cancer earlier.

‘Through the National Cancer Plan, we are determined to boost early diagnosis, transform screening and ensure more people get the right treatment at the right time.

‘I urge everyone who receives a home testing kit to use it - it takes just minutes and could save your life.'

Since bowel screening started two decades ago, the NHS has caught 70,000 cancers with almost 85m people screened.

A further 270,000 people have benefited from regular surveillance after screening.

Only half of people aged 60-74 came forward for screening two decades ago, but this has risen to more than seven in ten people last year with the test now available to people over 50.