Check the vaccinations section of the NHS App (or your nation's app) first. If it is empty or incomplete, ask your GP practice for a copy of your vaccination history.
Nurseries, schools, universities, employers and some countries ask for proof of vaccinations, often at short notice. In the UK there is no single vaccination certificate that covers everything. Your history is usually in your GP record, and for children it is also kept by a separate local service and in the family’s Red Book.
This guide explains where UK vaccination records are kept, how to check yours, what to do if a Red Book has gone missing, and how to keep a copy for the next time someone asks. For an overview of all NHS records, see our guide to NHS medical records.
Where vaccination records are kept
Most people’s history is spread across two or three of these places. Children usually have the most complete trail, because the GP practice, the Child Health Information Service and the parents’ Red Book all record the same routine appointments.
Where it is kept
Five places a UK vaccination history can live
Start with the first two. The rest fill gaps.
-
GP record
- Holds
- Vaccinations given at, or reported to, your GP practice.
- How to get it
- NHS App vaccinations section, or ask your practice.
-
Child Health Information Service
- Holds
- Children's routine vaccinations in your area.
- How to get it
- Ask your GP practice or health visiting team.
-
Red Book
- Holds
- The parent's copy, filled in at appointments.
- How to get it
- Kept at home. Photograph the vaccination pages.
-
COVID-19 record
- Holds
- COVID-19 vaccinations from the national system.
- How to get it
- NHS online service for people aged 16 and over.
-
Private and overseas certificates
- Holds
- Travel and other vaccinations given outside your GP practice.
- How to get it
- The clinic or country that gave them.
These records usually overlap, but not always. A vaccination given at a travel clinic or abroad may be missing from your GP record unless someone told your practice.
If you need a complete history, for a new school, a job in healthcare or a move abroad, start with your GP practice. It usually holds the most, and it can add anything that is missing once you show it a certificate or a page from the Red Book. Keep a note of which source supplied each entry, so you can go back to it if someone questions a date.
Check the NHS App first
In England, the NHS App has a vaccinations section that shows vaccinations recorded on your GP record. What appears depends on your practice and on how far back your record is shared, so older vaccinations may be missing. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own apps and portals. Our guide to the NHS App GP record explains what the app shows and how to ask for access to older entries.
If the section is empty or incomplete, the next step is your GP practice.
Ask your GP practice for a copy
Your practice can give you a printout or electronic copy of the vaccinations on your record. Ask at reception or through the practice’s online form, and say what it is for. If you need it by a deadline, tell them. A copy of your own records is normally free.
Saying what it is for helps the practice give you the right thing. A nursery or school usually wants a list of routine childhood vaccinations with dates. A university or employer may ask about specific vaccinations, such as MenACWY for students or hepatitis B for some healthcare jobs, and occupational health teams sometimes ask for evidence in a particular format. Check what the organisation asking for proof will accept before you request it.
For a full copy of everything on your record, use a subject access request. Our subject access request guide for GP and hospital records explains how.
If you have lost a Red Book
A photo of each page means the history survives a lost book.
The Red Book is the parent’s copy of a child’s health record. If it is lost, the information in it is not. Children’s routine vaccinations are recorded by your GP practice and by the Child Health Information Service for your area.
Ask your GP practice or your health visiting team for your child’s vaccination history. They can tell you what has been recorded and whether anything appears to be missing. Write the history into a new book if you have one, and keep a copy somewhere other than the book itself.
The Red Book holds more than vaccinations. It also records growth, development reviews and newborn checks, and some of that is only written there. Ask your health visiting team whether a replacement book is available, and photograph the pages of the new one as it fills up. Keep taking it to appointments: health visitors and GP practices still write in it, and it is often the quickest way to answer a school or nursery form.
COVID-19 vaccination records
COVID-19 vaccinations are recorded in a national system as well as on your GP record. The NHS website has an online service to check your COVID-19 vaccination record if you are aged 16 or over, and in England the NHS App can show COVID-19 vaccinations alongside your other vaccinations. Your GP practice can also provide a copy as part of your vaccination history.
If a dose is missing, for example because you were vaccinated at a pharmacy, a temporary centre or in another part of the UK, contact the service that gave it or your GP practice. Do not arrange another dose because of a gap in the record alone.
Vaccinations given abroad or privately
If you had vaccinations in another country or at a private clinic, they may not be on your NHS record. Keep the original certificate, and ask your GP practice to add the vaccinations to your record so a future clinician can see them.
When you move abroad, take a copy of your UK vaccination history with you. A doctor or school in your new country is likely to ask for it. Our guide to moving abroad from the UK covers what else to collect before you go.
Vaccination certificates for travel
Travel vaccinations are often given outside your GP practice.
Some countries ask travellers for proof of particular vaccinations. The best-known example is yellow fever, which some countries require on an International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis. Only registered yellow fever vaccination centres can give that vaccine and fill in the certificate, and your GP record is not a substitute for it.
Keep travel certificates with your passport, and keep a copy of each one somewhere else. Travel vaccinations are often given at private travel clinics, so they may not appear in your GP record or in the NHS App unless you ask your practice to add them. Check the entry requirements for each country well before you travel, because some vaccinations need time before they count.
Which vaccinations are due
This guide is about finding your records, not about which vaccinations you or your child need. For that, see the NHS page on vaccinations and when to have them and talk to your GP practice or health visitor.
A missing entry does not always mean a vaccination was missed. It may be recorded by the Child Health Information Service, by a previous practice, or on paper in the Red Book. Ask your practice to check before arranging another dose, and bring any records you have to the appointment.
Keep a copy for the whole family
Requests for vaccination proof come back every few years: starting nursery, starting school, a new job, travel. Keeping a copy you can find quickly saves starting from scratch each time.
KeepMD is a personal health record app for keeping those copies together:
- Scan the Red Book. Photograph the vaccination pages with your phone’s camera, so the information survives if the book is lost.
- Save GP printouts and certificates. Pick a PDF from the NHS App or your practice, or photograph a paper certificate.
- Keep each child’s records apart. Use a separate profile for each family member.
Your records stay encrypted on your phone. KeepMD does not connect to the NHS App or GP systems; you choose what to add. KeepMD stores your copies; your GP practice remains the official source when a school or employer needs proof.
