Throughout the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the government’s testing evaluation programme oversaw various testing initiatives. These were managed and evaluated in accordance with the Magenta Book.
These reports are being shared to add to the international body of knowledge developed during the pandemic.
COVID-19 testing: explanation
Answers to commonly asked questions about polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and lateral flow device (LFD) testing within the national COVID-19 testing programme.
Detailed technical reports on LFD performance, including thorough analysis of 75,000 paired LFD/PCR samples collected from real world testing. Also service evaluation studies commissioned to assess resilience of the devices to new variants of concern, different testing regimes and swabbing techniques.
Documents assessing quality and governance processes used in the national COVID-19 testing programme. Also specific reports and documentation about quality in testing.
Published 3 November 2022
Last updated 21 DecemberMarch 20232024
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21 March 2024
Restructured the collections and added 4 new pages.
21 December 2023
Added COVID-19: evaluation of pilot projects to support self-isolation.
19 October 2023
Added link to LFD tests: how and why they were used during the pandemic.
27 April 2023
Added new reports.
27 February 2023
Added Evaluation of the Automated Workcell, Assessment of swabs available for testing children under 5 and Overview of daily contact testing trial reports.