Guide
Who gets free NHS prescriptions? The full 2025/26 exemption list
Updated
Most prescription items dispensed in England are free. Before paying £9.90 an item, or buying a PPC, check this list.
Free everywhere outside England
Prescriptions are free for everyone in Wales (since 2007), Northern Ireland (since 2010) and Scotland (since 2011). The rest of this page is about England.
Age exemptions (automatic, no certificate)
- Under 16, always free.
- 16, 17 or 18 and in full-time education, free.
- 60 or over, free.
Certificate exemptions
- Maternity exemption (MatEx)
- Free prescriptions while pregnant and for 12 months after the due date or birth. Your midwife, GP or health visitor applies. Covers all your prescriptions, not just maternity-related ones.
- Medical exemption (MedEx)
- Free prescriptions if you have a listed condition: cancer (including treatment for its effects), diabetes mellitus except where treated by diet alone, hypothyroidism needing thyroid hormone, epilepsy needing continuous anticonvulsive therapy, diabetes insipidus and other forms of hypopituitarism, hypoparathyroidism, Addison's disease and other forms of hypoadrenalism, myasthenia gravis, a permanent fistula needing dressings or an appliance, or a continuing physical disability that stops you going out without help from another person. Apply through your GP surgery; the certificate lasts 5 years (nhsbsa.nhs.uk).
- HC2 (NHS Low Income Scheme)
- Full help with health costs based on income and savings, you do not need to be on benefits. Apply on form HC1 or online (nhsbsa.nhs.uk). HC3 gives partial help.
Benefit exemptions
- Income Support, income-based Jobseeker's Allowance, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, free.
- Pension Credit Guarantee Credit, free.
- Universal Credit, free if your take-home earnings in your last assessment period were £435 or less, or £935 or less if your award includes a child element or you have limited capability for work.
- Being named on a partner's qualifying award also counts. Contribution-based JSA/ESA alone does not qualify.
Other free routes
- Prescribed contraception is always free.
- Medicines administered or supplied while you're an NHS inpatient, or personally administered by a GP, are free.
- War pension exemption certificates cover prescriptions for the accepted disability.
Ticking an exemption box you're not entitled to risks a penalty charge (up to £100 plus the original charge), so check your category on nhs.uk if unsure. If none apply and you pay regularly, see whether a prepayment certificate saves you money.