Target: 80% by Mar 2027. Starting from 68.8% in Oct 2025, when the target was set, the straight path needed 75.39% by now.

What it means: people in England urgently referred with suspected cancer, or picked up by screening, who started their first treatment within two months. The standard is 85%, last met in 2015. The NHS planning target is 80% by March 2027. A rising line is good.

Source: NHS England, cancer waiting times, national time series (combined 62-day standard); target from the NHS medium term planning framework.