What Is the Maximum Dose of Semaglutide Available in the UK?

Step 1, Starting low to settle your system

Semaglutide injections begin at 0.25 mg once weekly. That dose is not intended to produce significant weight loss on its own; its job is to give your body time to adjust before stepping up. Nausea and other gastrointestinal effects are most common in the early weeks, and starting low reduces their intensity for most people. The NHS's patient guidance on semaglutide describes this staged approach as standard practice for the medicine.

After roughly four weeks on 0.25 mg, your prescriber will typically move you to 0.5 mg, then 1 mg, then 1.7 mg, before reaching 2.4 mg, the maintenance dose that was, until 2026, the highest available. Each step takes a minimum of one month. The pace is a clinical decision, not something to rush; moving up before your system is ready tends to worsen side effects without improving results. If you want to understand what each stage feels like in practice, our guide to Wegovy doses covers the full schedule in detail.

The oral Wegovy tablet path is distinct: it starts at 1.5 mg daily and escalates through 4 mg and 9 mg to the 25 mg maintenance ceiling. The tablet must be taken first thing in the morning on an empty stomach, with a small amount of plain water, waiting at least 30 minutes before eating or drinking anything else.

Step 2, Reaching 2.4 mg and the case for going further

For many people, 2.4 mg weekly is where treatment stays. Clinical trial data from the STEP 1 study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, showed an average body-weight reduction of around 15% over 68 weeks at this dose alongside lifestyle changes. That figure is a population average; individual results vary considerably.

The rationale for a higher ceiling came from evidence that some patients plateau below 2.4 mg or tolerate escalation well and could benefit from continued dose increases. Trials at 7.2 mg reported average weight loss of around 20.7% over 72 weeks, narrowing the gap with tirzepatide. The MHRA approved 7.2 mg in January 2026, initially supplied as three separate 2.4 mg pens administered weekly; a dedicated single-dose 7.2 mg pen followed on 14 April 2026. That pen is licensed for adults with a BMI of 30 or above for weight management, not for the cardiovascular indication.

Reaching 7.2 mg still requires completing the earlier titration steps first. There is no clinical shortcut to the maximum semaglutide dose, and your prescriber will assess your response at each stage before approving an increase, so if you are wondering what the maximum dose of semaglutide actually is and how patients qualify for it, that page walks through the full picture. For a broader look at how Wegovy sits within the landscape of licensed weight-loss treatments, our Wegovy overview page brings together the key facts.

Step 3, What the maximum dose means for eligibility and ongoing review

NICE's recommendation for semaglutide (TA875) specifies that treatment should be reconsidered if a patient has not lost at least 5% of their body weight after six months on the maintenance dose. That threshold applies regardless of which maintenance dose is in use. It is worth reading alongside the caveat that NICE's NHS recommendation is subject to specific conditions (a specialist weight management service setting and a two-year maximum duration) which differ from private prescribing criteria.

Private eligibility for Wegovy broadly follows the licensed indication: adults with a BMI of 30 or above, or 27 to 29.9 alongside at least one weight-related condition such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol or obstructive sleep apnoea. Lower BMI thresholds can apply for some ethnic backgrounds under UK guidance. BMI alone does not determine suitability; the prescriber reviews your full health picture, and if you want to understand how dose limits factor into that assessment, our page on the max dose of semaglutide explains what prescribers look at before approving an increase. A detailed breakdown of how the costs of private treatment compare between providers is available on our Wegovy price page, which covers what a legitimate prescription typically includes.

If you are transferred from another provider and already taking semaglutide, your prescriber will want to see evidence of your current dose before continuing or adjusting. At nume, a named GPhC-registered prescriber reads every consultation the same day, not an automated system. Once clinically approved, treatment is dispatched that day and arrives via DPD the next working day in a plain, unbranded box; tracking comes to your phone so you know exactly when to expect it. Details of what is included in the consultation are on our about us page.

Semaglutide vs Ozempic (a dose confusion worth clearing up

Ozempic contains the same molecule) semaglutide, but it is licensed for type 2 diabetes management, not weight loss. Its maximum licensed dose is 2 mg weekly, and it should not be used off-label for weight management. Wegovy and Ozempic are different products with different licences, different dose ceilings and different clinical indications. Similarly, Rybelsus is an oral semaglutide product (3 mg, 7 mg and 14 mg tablets) licensed for type 2 diabetes; those strengths are not part of the Wegovy weight-loss tablet schedule and should not be confused with the 1.5 mg, 4 mg, 9 mg and 25 mg Wegovy steps.

If you have been reading about semaglutide and are uncertain which product or which maximum dose applies to your situation, our page on the semaglutide maximum dose for weight loss works through exactly that distinction. The MHRA's public guidance on GLP-1 medicines is also a reliable starting point for understanding which products are approved and for what purpose in the UK. For questions specific to your own health history, speaking to our prescribers through a free consultation is the clearest route to an answer.