What age do you need to be for Wegovy — and what else decides eligibility?

You're 52 and your GP said you don't meet NHS criteria, does age lock you out?

It's a question our prescribers hear regularly. The short answer: age alone does not lock you out of Wegovy. The UK licence sets a floor of 18 and no ceiling. An adult of 55, 65 or 72 can be assessed and, if clinically suitable, prescribed it privately.

What your GP may have meant is that you don't meet the NHS-specific criteria, which are layered differently and tied to specialist weight-management services under NICE's recommendation for semaglutide (TA875). Those NHS criteria include a requirement that treatment is delivered within a multidisciplinary specialist service, and BMI thresholds that carry additional comorbidity conditions. Not meeting them for the NHS doesn't mean a private prescriber couldn't assess you under the broader licensed criteria.

The distinction matters. Private eligibility follows the medicine's licence: BMI 30 or above, or 27 to 29.9 with a qualifying condition such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, obstructive sleep apnoea or cardiovascular disease. A prescriber also considers your full medical history, existing conditions, current medicines, kidney function, thyroid history. For older adults, that picture tends to be more complex, which is exactly why clinical review rather than a tick-box matters.

If you're older and carry multiple health conditions, the assessment isn't harder in a bureaucratic sense; it's simply more thorough. That's appropriate for a prescription medicine with a real mechanism of action.

Under 18: why the licence is a firm line, not a grey area

Wegovy is not licensed for anyone under 18 in the UK. That isn't a cautious guideline that can be overridden at a prescriber's discretion, it reflects the fact that clinical trials supporting the UK authorisation were conducted in adults, and the MHRA has not approved the medicine for younger people based on available evidence.

Parents sometimes ask about this when a teenager is struggling with their weight and has seen Wegovy discussed online. It's an understandable question. The honest answer is that prescribing Wegovy to someone under 18 in the UK would be off-licence, and no regulated online pharmacy should offer it. Anyone offering Wegovy to under-18s without the appropriate specialist paediatric oversight should raise serious concern.

If you are a young adult who turned 18 recently and want to understand the full process, our page on age limits for Wegovy goes into more detail, including what the transition into eligibility looks like. The minimum age applies consistently at every dose level and across the titration schedule.

It's worth noting that weight management support for under-18s in the UK follows different clinical pathways entirely, led by paediatric specialists. That remains the appropriate route for younger people, and it's not a gap a private online pharmacy fills.

Pregnancy, breastfeeding and trying to conceive: age-adjacent situations that matter

Age and life stage are related but distinct. Women who are pregnant, breastfeeding or actively trying to conceive are not recommended to use Wegovy, regardless of their age or BMI. The MHRA advises using effective contraception during treatment and for a wash-out period before attempting pregnancy.

For women using hormonal contraception, an important practical note: there is no evidence that semaglutide reduces the effectiveness of the contraceptive pill in the way that tirzepatide (Mounjaro) does. That said, individual contraception discussions are part of the consultation process and something a prescriber addresses before treatment starts. If you're weighing up which medicine suits your circumstances, a comparison of Wegovy and its alternatives covers those differences factually.

For women going through perimenopause or menopause, age brings questions about HRT too. There is no blanket contraindication between Wegovy and HRT, though any concurrent prescriptions should be declared at consultation. Transdermal forms of HRT are generally unaffected by semaglutide's mechanism. Your prescriber is the right person to review the combination with your specific medicines.

On the conditions that qualify alongside BMI, cardiovascular disease becomes more prevalent with age, which is relevant, because semaglutide also holds a separate UK authorisation for reducing the risk of major cardiovascular events in eligible adults. That's a clinical nuance your prescriber factors in.

What the consultation actually checks, and why age is only one line on the form

When a prescriber at a regulated service reviews your consultation, age appears on the form alongside BMI, medical history, current medications, kidney and liver function markers, thyroid history and a few key exclusions. Medullary thyroid carcinoma, a personal or family history of MEN2 syndrome, and a history of pancreatitis all require careful discussion before Wegovy is considered appropriate.

At nume, a GPhC-registered Independent Prescriber reads every consultation personally. Photo ID verification and live weight verification on video are part of the process; your consultation doesn't move to a dispensing queue until those checks are complete. If you're currently on Wegovy elsewhere and considering transferring, evidence of your current dose is required before any review of dose changes.

On cost: Wegovy is available only through a private prescription at launch, and pricing varies by dose and provider. There's an honest breakdown of what drives that variation on our Wegovy cost page, worth a read before assuming a cheap listing is a good deal. For a prescription medicine, the right question isn't which provider is cheapest; it's which service has the clinical infrastructure to keep you safe.

Wegovy is stored in the fridge, so your morning routine matters: pulling the pen from the fridge door once a week is simpler than it sounds, and practical tips for Wegovy cover the habits that make the treatment easier to sustain. The NHS patient information for semaglutide is also a clear reference for what to expect week to week.

If you're ready to find out whether you qualify, a prescriber can review your full picture at our free consultation. That's where age, BMI and everything else gets assessed properly.