The Wegovy dose chart: how the titration schedule works in the UK

Step 1, the starting dose (0.25 mg, weeks 1–4)

The first pen your prescriber issues contains 0.25 mg of semaglutide per weekly dose. This is a tolerability phase, not a therapeutic one. Its job is to let your digestive system adjust gradually to the medicine, reducing the chance of nausea, vomiting, or stomach discomfort hitting hard in the first fortnight. Most people notice very little effect on appetite at this level, and that's expected. The dose is intentionally gentle.

You inject once a week, on the same day each week if possible, into the abdomen, thigh, or upper arm, rotating the site. The NHS semaglutide medicines page has clear instructions on technique, and your Patient Information Leaflet covers storage and what to do with used pens. If your regular injection day falls over a bank holiday or you're away, the leaflet and your prescriber's guidance take precedence over any general advice.

Some people stay at 0.25 mg for longer than four weeks if their prescriber thinks it's needed. That's a clinical call, not a sign anything has gone wrong. Rushing the schedule to see quicker results on the scales is the one thing most likely to make the next phase harder to tolerate.

Step 2, building up (0.5 mg, 1.0 mg, 1.7 mg)

After the first four weeks, and assuming you're tolerating 0.25 mg well, your prescriber will move you to 0.5 mg. The same four-week rhythm continues through 1.0 mg and then 1.7 mg. Each increase is a deliberate pause, four weeks gives your body time to settle before the next step, and it gives your prescriber a proper picture of how you're responding.

GI side effects (nausea mostly, sometimes loose stools or indigestion) tend to peak in the days after a dose increase and then ease. That pattern is well-documented in the STEP 1 trial published in the New England Journal of Medicine, where 68 weeks of treatment at the 2.4 mg maintenance dose produced an average weight reduction of around 15%. The dose increases in that trial followed the same stepwise structure used in UK clinical practice today.

Missed doses during these middle steps should always be handled according to the instructions in your Patient Information Leaflet. Our guide to Wegovy doses covers common questions about what to do if a weekly injection is late or skipped, and if you want a quick visual reference alongside that, our Wegovy doses chart lays out each stage at a glance.

Step 3, reaching maintenance (2.4 mg and above)

2.4 mg weekly is the standard maintenance dose for most people on Wegovy in the UK. Once you reach it, the aim is to stay there consistently, with your prescriber reviewing progress over time. NICE recommends considering whether to continue if less than 5% weight loss has occurred after six months at the maintenance dose, a check-in point, not an automatic stop. The full NICE recommendation for semaglutide is set out in NICE technology appraisal TA875.

For some people, 2.4 mg is now the penultimate step rather than the final one. The MHRA approved a 7.2 mg maintenance dose in January 2026, initially supplied as three 2.4 mg pens administered weekly, and then a dedicated single-dose 7.2 mg pen in April 2026, designed for adults with a BMI of 30 or above. Trials reported around 20.7% average weight loss over 72 weeks at 7.2 mg. If you're curious about the 2.4 mg stage specifically, our closer look at the 2.4 mg Wegovy step goes into more detail.

Worth knowing: whether a higher dose is appropriate for you is a conversation for your prescriber, not something to request based on a chart alone. The titration exists to match your biology, not a schedule on a page.

What the Wegovy dose chart doesn't tell you

A dose chart shows the standard path. It doesn't show when your prescriber might decide to hold a dose level for an extra cycle because your side effects need more time to settle, or to come back down a step if a higher dose is proving difficult to tolerate. Both are legitimate clinical decisions and more common than people expect.

The chart also says nothing about eligibility. Wegovy is licensed in the UK for adults with a BMI of 30 or above, or 27 or above alongside at least one weight-related health condition. Whether you meet those criteria is only the starting point; a prescriber also considers your full medical history, any other medicines you take, and whether the titration schedule can safely proceed at each review. Our broader Wegovy treatment overview covers eligibility in more detail, and the semaglutide dose chart page explains how the same active ingredient is used in different contexts.

If you're thinking about the cost side of treatment alongside the dose timeline, our guide to Wegovy costs in the UK sets out what's typically included in a private prescription price and what to look for. For anyone ready to explore whether Wegovy is clinically suitable, the next step is a conversation with a prescriber. You can check your eligibility with a free consultation, reviewed by a GPhC-registered prescriber the same day you apply.