Orders and delivery

All STI test kits are sent by Royal Mail, either on the day you ordered or on the next working day. Most kits arrive in 3 to 5 days. If your kit has not arrived after 7 working days, get in touch. This allows for any delays with Royal Mail.

If it’s been more than 7 working days since your kit was dispatched and it has not arrived, we can send you a new kit. Contact our team and include your mobile number, date of birth and full delivery address. This helps us find your order in our system and send you a replacement.

If you have ordered an STI test kit, it is not tracked. Kits are sent with Royal Mail and posted on the same day you ordered or the next working day.

When you post your samples to our lab, this can be tracked so you can see when they’ve arrived. 

You can find the tracking code for your samples on the return address label. It starts with # and is underneath the barcode. Make a note of this code. Once your package is in the post, you can track it with Royal Mail.

If you have ordered contraception or treatment from us, these are sent with tracked delivery. We'll send you a text with a tracking link for your order.

To cancel your order, let us know by replying to one of our text messages, or you can email us at sh24.info@nhs.net . Include your mobile number, postcode and date of birth so we can find your order. 

If your order has already been sent, we will not be able to cancel it. It might reassure you to know that our kits are discreetly packaged and sent through Royal Mail. They don’t need to be signed for and they have no mention of SH:24 on the outside.

If you’ve entered your address incorrectly, the kit will be returned to us.

If you get a testing kit but don’t want to use it right now, you can keep it for a few months and use it at a time that suits you. You’ll be able to find an expiry date on the sample tubes and swabs. As long as you use the test before this date, it will be valid.

Unfortunately, we are not able to provide testing kits or contraception to everyone. We’re limited by which local authorities choose to work with us and what they want us to provide.

If our free services are not available in your area, you can get tests and contraception for free at your local NHS sexual health clinic. Or there could be a different online testing service for your area. Contraception is available free from your GP and some pharmacies. You might also want to look at paid options, like our partner service Fettle.

If we usually are available in your area, but you’ve not been able to order, it’s most likely because there has been a high demand in your area and we can only send out a set number of kits each day. We recommend you try again tomorrow - ordering in the morning can help you beat the rush.

If you cannot get what you need from our services, we recommend contacting your local clinic.

We send codes so we can verify your phone number when you order or verify your email address when you create an account.

Phone verification codes are sent as a text message. If it has not arrived, first check that you have signal on your mobile. Then try the ‘resend verification code’ button.

If you’re still not receiving a code, then it’s most likely because of cookies stored in your browser. 

Before you start your order, try:

• clearing the cookies in your browser

• using the private/incognito mode in your browser

• using a different browser

We also find that sometimes ordering on a different device can help. So try using your computer instead of your phone, or a tablet instead of your laptop. 

Make sure your browsers are not connected across devices. For example, if you’re signed into a Google account on both devices, try signing out.

The tests that you are offered when you order are decided by:

• the information you give us in the order form

• the services available in your area

This means that not all tests or types of tests are available to everyone. 

The decisions about what to offer you have been made together with your local authority and are based on guidance from the UK Health Security Agency and British Association for Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH), as well as regional and national statistics. This has also been influenced by the budgets and need for sexual health services in each area.

If you’d like a test that’s not in the kit you ordered, let us know. Reply to any of the text messages we’ve sent you and our clinical team will get in touch. If we cannot send what you need, we will help you find a service near you that can.

No, because we cannot send different people’s results to the same mobile number.  To protect your privacy, our service works by linking individual orders and results to a mobile number. Your mobile number can be used for your test only.

If you have a friend or partner who would like a test, they need to place their own order using their own phone number. If you do not do this, the second order might be declined by our system.

If they do not have their own UK or Irish mobile number they’ll need to visit their local sexual health clinic or GP.

We can only accept UK and Irish numbers, we cannot call, text, or receive messages from international numbers.

Our order form is designed to be trans-inclusive, so you can choose the option that’s right for you. We ask for your gender and then ask if it matches the sex you were assigned at birth. We also ask about your genitals so we’re able to give you advice on which test kit will work best for you.

If your genitals don’t fit the cisgender definitions of male and female, or you are intersex, we can help you find the right tests, just email us at sh24.info@nhs.net

Our clinicians will work with you to prescribe the most suitable brand of pill based on your health and medical history. You cannot choose a brand and you may not be sent a brand you're familiar with.

We do not always have every brand in stock. And when our team of clinicians prescribe your pill look at the mix of hormones, not the brand name.

If you’ve been taking the pill before, they'll do their best to match the hormones with what you’re used to, even if the brand name is different. If that's not possible, they’ll be able to suggest an alternative that could be a good match for you.

If you want a specific brand of pill, you can ask for it from your GP, see if your sexual health clinic has it in stock, or buy it from our partner site Fettle (pills start at £18).

All types of combined pill contain an oestrogen hormone and a progestogen hormone. However, these hormones come in different types and different amounts. All brands and types of pill are equally good at preventing pregnancy.

Progestogen only pills all contain the progestogen hormone, but there are 3 different versions. Pills that contain desogestrel need to be taken in the same 12-hour window each day. Pills containing levonorgestrel or norethisterone must be taken in the same 3-hour period each day.

If you use our warts and herpes treatment service, you'll be asked to upload some photos of your symptoms. Our clinicians will use these photos to diagnose your condition.

It can be difficult to take these photos so take your time, make sure you are in a well lit area, maybe use a lamp with the light directed at your skin.
To show us how big the lesions are, place your finger on your skin in one of the photos. It can also help to use the timer on your phone camera to take these.
We will ask you to upload 3 or 4 photos:

1. From a distance, show the whole genital area, so we can tell where your symptoms are appearing.

2. Close up and in focus, place your finger so we can tell how big the lesions are.

3. From a different angle, focus on the texture of the affected skin.

4. An additional photo if you wish.

Our team of clinicians work hard to get you the treatment you need as quickly as we can. All orders are sent by Royal Mail Tracked 24, so you can see when your treatment will arrive.

Our team of clinicians work Monday to Friday, from 9am to 5.30pm reviewing treatment orders. Once they've prescribed your treatment, our pharmacy processes and dispatches orders between 8am and 3pm, Monday to Friday.

There are some other things that can affect how quickly we can get treatment to you:

The photos you send us

Our team of clinicians rely on the photos you upload to make a diagnosis and decide the right treatment for you. Clear, in-focus pictures of your symptoms will mean a clinician can prescribe treatment much quicker. If photos are blurry, or there's other issues, they might need to ask you to take more photos before they can help you.

Weekend orders

Orders placed on Friday afternoons or over the weekend will not be sent out until Monday morning. Our pharmacy processes prescriptions Monday to Friday, 8am to 3pm (excluding bank holidays), so we cannot send treatment over the weekend.

If you need more urgent treatment or advice, call NHS 111 or contact a local sexual health clinic.