What does your BMI need to be for Wegovy in the UK?

The licensed cut-offs: what Wegovy's UK approval actually says

Wegovy's UK licence, granted by the MHRA, sets two separate eligibility pathways. The first is straightforward: a BMI of 30 or higher, with no additional conditions required. The second pathway opens at a BMI of 27, but only where you also have at least one weight-related comorbidity. Qualifying conditions include type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, dyslipidaemia (abnormal cholesterol or triglycerides), obstructive sleep apnoea and cardiovascular disease. Prediabetes and osteoarthritis are also commonly cited in clinical practice.

Before anything else, it's worth spending sixty seconds with the NHS BMI calculator to get your figure. It factors in height, weight, age and sex, and gives you a starting reference point before a consultation. That's the checking habit that takes under a minute and saves a lot of guesswork.

One nuance that often catches people out: UK clinical guidance recommends applying BMI thresholds that are 2.5 kg/m² lower for people of South Asian, Chinese, Middle Eastern, Black African or African-Caribbean heritage, because the health risks associated with excess weight appear at a lower BMI in these groups. So a BMI of 27.5 with a qualifying condition, for example, would typically meet the 27-plus pathway for someone in those ethnic groups. A prescriber will apply this individually.

NHS versus private prescription: the thresholds are not the same

This is where the decision branches, and it matters. The licensed thresholds above apply to private prescriptions, which is how Wegovy is dispensed through services like our pharmacy. The NHS operates under a different framework set by NICE's technology appraisal TA875, which is considerably more restrictive.

Under NICE TA875, Wegovy is recommended on the NHS only for adults with a BMI of 35 or above and at least one weight-related comorbidity, and only when treatment is delivered within a specialist weight management service with full multidisciplinary support. The NICE recommendation also caps NHS use at a maximum of two years. NHS waiting lists for those services are commonly long, and not every area has a pathway open yet.

If your BMI sits between 27 and 34.9, or you meet the licensed thresholds but not the stricter NICE criteria, a private prescription is likely the realistic route. That doesn't mean a lower bar for safety, it means the same clinical assessment, the same prescription requirements, through a regulated private pharmacy rather than an NHS pathway. For context on what private treatment involves financially, this overview of Wegovy costs in the UK sets out what a legitimate private price typically includes.

What a BMI threshold doesn't tell you

Meeting the BMI cut-off is necessary. It is not sufficient on its own. Wegovy is contraindicated in pregnancy, and it is not recommended for women who are breastfeeding or actively trying to conceive. It is not licensed for anyone under 18. A history of medullary thyroid carcinoma or multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2 rules it out entirely. Pancreatitis history and certain gastrointestinal conditions require careful prescriber discussion before starting.

There are also medicines that interact with semaglutide in ways worth flagging: women taking oral contraceptives alongside tirzepatide (a different GLP-1 medicine) are advised to add a non-oral method during the first weeks of treatment and after dose increases, a parallel precaution worth knowing if you're comparing options. For Wegovy specifically, NHS England's guidance on weight-management injections sets out the broader care considerations in plain terms.

The prescriber's job is to look at all of this together. BMI gets you into the conversation; the consultation determines whether treatment is appropriate for you specifically. Our clinical team reviews every application personally, a named prescriber reads your answers the same day, not an automated system. Exploring the treatment options available through our service is a useful next step if you're still weighing things up.

What if your BMI is just below the threshold?

It happens. Someone with a BMI of 29.5 and two qualifying conditions asks whether they come close enough. The honest answer is: at 29.5 without the ethnic-background adjustment, the private-prescription licence threshold of 30 is not met, and a responsible prescriber will not approve treatment. This is not a bureaucratic inconvenience, BMI thresholds exist because the evidence base was built in populations that met them, and prescribing outside them is not supported by that evidence.

If you're close but not quite there, the right move is a consultation rather than a guessing game. A prescriber can confirm whether any qualifying conditions, ethnic-background adjustments or other clinical factors affect your eligibility, and if you want to understand exactly what BMI you have to be to get Wegovy before booking, that page walks through the numbers in detail. They can also discuss whether what BMI has to be for Wegovy applies differently depending on your background or comorbidities, and whether an alternative treatment might be more appropriate. A frank ten-minute conversation is more useful than an online calculator that can only see one number, so if you're still asking what BMI you need for Wegovy in your specific circumstances, start that conversation with a free consultation and let a clinician give you a real answer, or read through our detailed guide to the BMI you need to get Wegovy if you'd like to work through the criteria in your own time first.