It's possible to get a test to find out in you are in the early, symptomless stages of type 1 diabetes and are going to progress to needing insulin in the future. This is called type 1 diabetes screening. It can help people prepare for life managing type 1 diabetes, avoid an emergency diagnosis, and access new treatments designed to slow down the progression of type 1.
Is there a type 1 diabetes test?
In type 1 diabetes, the body's immune system attacks insulin-producing cells in the pancreas, so you can’t produce it anymore. This immune attack starts months or years before someone develops the symptoms of type 1 diabetes and needs to start on insulin.
With a simple blood test, it’s possible to look for markers in your blood that tell us the attack has begun. These markers are called type 1 diabetes autoantibodies. If you have two or more of them, it means you have an almost 100% chance of eventually developing symptoms and needing insulin in your lifetime. We call this early-stage type 1 diabetes.
This test is not the same as a blood glucose test, sometimes called a finger-prick test, that a doctor might do to diagnose type 1 diabetes if you already have symptoms.
Find out more about how type 1 diabetes screening works
How to get tested for type 1 diabetes risk
You can get a type 1 diabetes autoantibody test as part of research studies.
We’re funding a UK-first project called the ELSA study that’s screening 60,000 children, aged between 2-17 years, to test for type 1 diabetes autoantibodies. Find out more about the ELSA study and how your child can take part.
ELSA will help us work out the most effective way to deliver a future screening programme for type 1 diabetes in the UK. Screening could transform the way we detect and manage the condition in its earliest stages.
“Avishai told me about his friend James getting ill with type 1 diabetes. When I heard about the ELSA study, I told Avishai right away. I thought if he is at risk of type 1 diabetes, I would rather know sooner than when he could become ill and end up in hospital like his friend James. It wasn't something we took too long to decide about really. As soon as we got the invite to take part, we thought it was a good idea.” Prity, whose son Avishai was screened in the ELSA study.
Adults aged between 18 and 70 years can sign up for a similar study, called the T1DRA study. It's recruiting 20,000 adults to screen them for autoantibodies and understand more about how type 1 diabetes develops in adults. Find out more about the T1DRA study and how to take part.
You may also be offered an autoantibody test through your GP or in hospital.
What are the benefits of getting screened?
Detecting type 1 diabetes early, before you have high blood sugars, diabetes symptoms, or need to take insulin can mean:
- Time to prepare and learn about managing type 1 diabetes
- Access to support and monitoring
- Avoiding a dangerous, sudden medical emergency, called diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA)
- The chance to use new treatments, called immunotherapies, which can slow down type 1 and give more time before insulin is needed.
The first immunotherapy for type 1 diabetes, called teplizumab, was licensed in the UK in 2025, and approved for use on the NHS in 2026.
We want a future where everyone with early-stage type 1 diabetes can access immunotherapies. That’s why we're calling for national services to detect and treat type 1 early, with fair access for all.
Help us get there by supporting our Type 1 Tipping Point campaign and spreading the word about our ELSA study.
Is type 1 diabetes genetic?
We don’t know exactly what causes type 1 diabetes. There are certain genes that can increase your risk of getting type 1, and if you’ve got a close relative with type 1 diabetes then your risk is slightly higher. But most people with type 1 diabetes don’t have any family history of it.
There are genetic tests that can tell you if you have a high genetic risk of developing type 1 diabetes. The more high-risk genes you have, the more likely you are to develop type 1 diabetes. But most people with a high genetic risk will never go on to develop the condition.
Can type 1 diabetes be prevented?
Unlike type 2 diabetes, where research has shown that prevention of type 2 diabetes may be possible for some through changes to diet and physical activity, and losing weight, currently there is no known way to prevent type 1 diabetes.
But immunotherapy treatments designed to hold off the immune system attack can delay the progression of type 1 diabetes.
One immunotherapy drug called teplizumab, was approved for use on the NHS in 2026 in people with early-stage type 1 diabetes. By resetting the immune system, it can give people in type 1's early stages extra time before they need insulin and develop symptoms.
We’re funding research to test more immunotherapies in clinical trials, to build the evidence to get them approved. Researchers hope that in the future immunotherapies could hold off the immune attack for much longer, possibly for life, to prevent type 1 diabetes entirely.
The symptoms of type 1 diabetes
Early detection is key is finding type 1 diabetes before symptoms appear. But it’s still important to know the symptoms of type 1 diabetes. If you or someone you know develops any of these, you should speak to your GP or call NHS 111 urgently.
- Toilet - going for a wee a lot, especially at night
- Thirsty - being really thirsty
- Tired - feeling more tired than usual
- Thinner - losing weight without trying to
- Genital itching or thrush
- Cuts and wounds take longer to heal
- Blurred eyesight
- Increased hunger.
