1 in 5 children starting primary school are not fully protected against serious illnesses

Low numbers of vaccination uptake

The UKHSA’s latest annual uptake data on childhood vaccines (April 2024-March 2025) shows 18.6% of children -around 1 in 5 - starting primary school, have not received their pre-school booster jab. This means they are not fully protected against, and vulnerable to catching, serious illnesses including polio and whooping cough.

The data reports on children who turned 5 between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025. In England over the last 10 years, the coverage or uptake rates for the pre-school booster peaked at 86.3% in 2015 to 2016. The latest data, at 81.4%, is nearly 5% lower than the peak. Outside of London, the coverage for England was 85.0%.

Dr Mary Ramsay, Director of Immunisation at UKHSA, says: “Far too many children will not be fully protected and safe when starting school and are at risk of serious diseases, such as measles and whooping cough, that have in recent years caused outbreaks. Parents should check your children are up to date with all their jabs and, if not, contact your GP practice as soon as possible.”

The 4-in-1 pre-school booster, given from 3 years 4 months of age, boosts the protection provided by previous vaccines given to babies. It ensures children have the essential protection they need when starting primary school.

The 4-in-1 jab helps protect children against:

• Polio.

• Coqueluche.

• Tétano.

• Diphtheria.

Uptake of the 6-in-1 vaccine – given in three doses to babies at 8, 12, and 16 weeks old - has increased slightly to 92.8% but is still short of the 95.6% peak.

The 6-in-1 vaccine protects babies against:

• Diphtheria.

• Hepatite B.

• Hib (Haemophilus influenzae type b).

• Polio.

• Tetanus.

• Whooping cough.

Childhood vaccination coverage varies significantly geographically and continues to be lowest for all the uptake indicators in London.

In England, areas in the north consistently perform better than other areas. Pre-school booster rates for Cumbria, Country Durham and East Riding of Yorkshire, Barnsley, and Northumberland are all above 92% compared with the overall England coverage of 81.4%.

NHS England is helping parents to vaccinate their children with initiatives such as hosting extra clinics, catch up opportunities in schools, and localised outreach projects to target low uptake areas across the country. This has had some success with MMR1 uptake stabilising at 91.8% - but that’s still not enough to prevent outbreaks.

Health Minister Stephen Kinnock says: We’re working with the NHS to make it easier for all families to access these life-saving vaccines to save thousands of lives every year and prevent countless hospital admissions. I urge all parents to check their child’s vaccination record.”

More information on vaccinations is available at nhs.uk.