This is the practical version — walk-in, appointment, postal kit — what gets tested for, how often, and what happens if a result comes back positive. No drama, just the steps.
The headline — clinics, free, no GP referral, no record at your GP
UK sexual health clinics (sometimes still called GUM clinics) are NHS services run separately from your GP surgery. You don't need a referral, you don't pay, and the clinic doesn't share results with your GP unless you specifically ask them to.
You can use any sexual health clinic in any area of the UK — you don't need to be registered locally. Walk in, give a first name, and ask for a sexual health screen. Staff have heard everything before; matter-of-fact is the default tone.
Walk-in vs appointment vs postal kit
Three routes do the same job. Pick the one that fits your week.
Walk-in clinics see you the day you turn up, though you may queue. Appointments are easier if you want a fixed slot and a private waiting room. Postal kits arrive in plain packaging, you do the swabs and finger-prick yourself at home, and results land by text two to three days later.
If you have symptoms — pain, discharge, sores, anything visible — go in person, because a clinician needs to look. If you're testing as a regular check with no symptoms, postal is usually the easiest route.
What gets tested for — the standard panel
A full UK sexual health screen covers the conditions worth catching: HIV, syphilis, chlamydia, and gonorrhoea. Hepatitis B and C are added when relevant — clinics ask about your history rather than assume.
Postal kits cover the same panel. Finger-prick blood samples handle HIV and syphilis; self-swabs handle chlamydia and gonorrhoea. Take swabs from every site you've used during sex — throat and rectal sites both count, and an infection at one site doesn't always show up at another.
Herpes and HPV aren't on the standard panel. Herpes is tested when there are visible symptoms; HPV doesn't have a reliable male test routinely available on the NHS.
How often you should test
Frequency depends on what you do, not what you call yourself. The rule of thumb most clinics work to is more often if you have new or multiple partners (every few months) and at least once a year otherwise — the clinic will tell you what fits your pattern when you're there.
If you're on PrEP, regular testing is built into the prescription cycle anyway. If you've had a recent partner change, a condom failure, or a known exposure, test now and ask the clinic when to retest — modern HIV tests become reliable a few weeks after exposure, and the clinic will give you the precise window for your situation. Some bacterial infections take a fortnight to show.
What "confidential" actually means
Sexual health clinics work under different rules from your GP. Records stay inside the sexual health service, and nothing routinely reaches your GP file. If you want your GP told — for example, if a positive result needs ongoing care from them — you tell the clinic to share. They don't do it without consent.
NHS-run postal services work the same way. Your name and address go in for the kit and the text result, but no record is created at your GP unless you choose to make one.
If you've never set foot in a clinic before, the first-visit walkthrough covers what the room looks like, what they ask, and what you can decline to answer.
Postal kit services that work in the UK
Two NHS-funded services cover participating areas of the UK — coverage is patchwork by local authority, so check your postcode at sign-up:
- sh24.org.uk — full STI panel, postcode-checked at sign-up. If your area is covered, the kit usually arrives within five working days.
- freetesting.hiv — HIV (and syphilis in some areas) postal test, England only, eligibility based on postcode. Useful as a quick interim check between full screens where covered.
Both are confidential, both are free, and both text the result rather than phoning. If your postcode isn't covered by sh24, the local clinic's website usually lists its own postal partner.
If you'd rather walk in, the NHS sexual health services finder lists every clinic with current opening hours.
If you test positive — what happens next
A positive result for chlamydia, gonorrhoea, or syphilis means a course of treatment from the clinic and a conversation about partner notification. Most clinics will message recent partners on your behalf without your name attached, so you don't have to make the call yourself.
A positive HIV result in 2026 is a chronic condition that's straightforwardly treatable for almost everyone — the clinic books you straight into HIV care and works out the right regimen with you. People on treatment with an undetectable viral load cannot pass HIV on. The conversation is medical, not moral.
If you've had a known recent exposure and haven't tested yet, PEP is a 28-day course of medication that can stop HIV taking hold if started within 72 hours. Read the PrEP and PEP page before you need it, not after. For the wider context on how testing fits with how you have sex, the safety and consent piece covers the conversation side — when to ask, when to test, when to tell.