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Navigation – Skip link

Use a skip link to help keyboard-only users skip to the main content on a page.

Information: Version 10

Skip link updated in August 2025

See breaking code updates to skip link in version 10

Open this example in a new tab: skip link 
<p class="nhsuk-body">To view the skip link, tab to this example, or click inside this example and press tab.</p>

<a class="nhsuk-skip-link" href="#maincontent" data-module="nhsuk-skip-link">
  Skip to main content
</a>
Nunjucks macro options

Use options to customise the appearance, content and behaviour of a component when using a macro, for example, changing the text.

Some options are required for the macro to work. These are marked as "Required" in the option description.

If you're using Nunjucks macros in production with "html" options, or ones ending with "html", you must sanitise the HTML to protect against cross-site scripting exploits.

Primary options
Name Type Description
id string The ID of the skip link.
text string Required. If html is set, this is not required. Text to use within the skip link. If html is provided, the text option will be ignored. Defaults to "Skip to main content".
html string Required. If text is set, this is not required. HTML to use within the skip link. If html is provided, the text option will be ignored. Defaults to "Skip to main content".
href string The value of the skip link's href attribute. Defaults to "#maincontent".
classes string Classes to add to the skip link.
attributes object HTML attributes (for example data attributes) to add to the skip link. 
<p class="nhsuk-body">To view the skip link, tab to this example, or click inside this example and press tab.</p>

{% from "skip-link/macro.njk" import skipLink %}

{{ skipLink({
  href: "#maincontent",
  text: "Skip to main content"
}) }}

When to use a skip link

All nhs.uk pages must include a skip link in the header following guidance in the GOV.UK Design System.

How skip links work

Some people use the tab key on their keyboard to navigate through the links and form elements on a web page. Including a skip link gives users the option to bypass the top-level navigation links and jump to the main content on the page.

The skip link component is visually hidden until a keyboard press activates it.

Research

If you’ve used skip links, please share your user research findings.

Help us improve this guidance

Share insights or feedback and take part in the discussion. We use GitHub as a collaboration space. All the information on it is open to the public.

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If you have any questions, get in touch with the service manual team.

Updated: August 2025