Skip to main content
privatetests
Basket0

Clinic appointment

Advanced Vitamin Check

The widest vitamin panel here: ten direct blood measurements covering vitamins A, D and E, beta carotene, and the B vitamins including red-cell folate and active B12.

  • Doctor-reviewed results
  • Laboratory analysis
  • 3 to 5 working days from lab receipt
  • No fasting required
Advanced Vitamin Check, clinic sample tubes

What’s included

10 markers measured

All items are shown below, grouped by area. You can collapse a group as you read.

Vitamins

  • Vitamin A (retinol)

    Vitamin A, also called retinol, helps the immune system work properly, supports vision in dim light and keeps the skin and linings of areas such as the nose healthy. The body stores what it does not need, and too much over many years may weaken bones.

  • Beta carotene

    The natural colouring in yellow and orange fruit and vegetables. The body turns it into vitamin A, so it can do the same jobs. Main food sources include carrots, spinach, red peppers, mango, papaya and apricots.

  • Vitamin B1 (thiamine)

    Thiamin (vitamin B1), a B vitamin the body needs to release energy from food and to keep the nervous system healthy. It is found in many foods, and most people can get all they need from their daily diet.

  • Vitamin B2 (riboflavin)

    Riboflavin (vitamin B2) is a B vitamin that helps the body release energy from food and keeps skin, eyes and the nervous system healthy. It is found in foods such as milk, eggs and mushrooms. The body cannot store it, so it is needed in the diet every day.

  • Vitamin B3 (nicotinamide)

    Nicotinamide, a form of vitamin B3 used throughout the body in enzyme reactions and energy production.

  • Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine)

    Vitamin B6, also called pyridoxine, helps the body get and store energy from the protein and carbohydrate we eat, and helps it make haemoglobin, which carries oxygen in red blood cells. Very high supplement doses can cause numbness in the arms and legs (peripheral neuropathy).

  • Red-cell folate

    Folate measured inside red blood cells. It may be checked when folate deficiency is strongly suspected but the standard blood folate level is normal, once vitamin B12 deficiency has been ruled out. A low result fits with folate deficiency if B12 is not also low.

  • Active vitamin B12

    The part of your vitamin B12 that your cells can actually use. B12 supports nerves and red blood cells. UK guidance accepts either active or total B12 as a first test, and recent supplements or injections can raise the result without fully treating a deficiency.

  • Vitamin D (25-OH)

    Your vitamin D store, which supports bone, muscle and immune health. Low levels are common in the UK, especially from January to March.

  • Vitamin E

    A fat-soluble vitamin that helps keep skin and eyes healthy and supports the immune system.

Overview

The widest direct vitamin panel we sell: the seven vitamins in the standard check plus vitamin B3, red-cell folate and active vitamin B12. People choose it when there is a clear reason to look at nutrition in detail, such as a long-standing vegan or very restricted diet, a malabsorption condition, recovery from bariatric surgery, or an unexplained picture of tiredness and nerve symptoms that a general panel has already been through.

Gives a doctor measured blood levels of vitamins that can be involved in energy, nerve and immune questions, rather than an estimate from what you eat.

Who this is for and who it isn’t

Who it’s for

  • Adults aged 18 and over
  • People after weight-loss surgery or with absorption problems
  • Anyone whose clinician has asked for a full vitamin panel

Who it isn’t for

  • Not a general health check, and not a substitute for one. It does not look at your liver, kidneys, cholesterol, blood count, thyroid or iron stores. If you want one test that covers the widest ground for the money, the Advanced Well Person Check with Cholesterol covers more of those areas for less.
  • If you have numbness, pins and needles or problems with balance, see your GP promptly rather than waiting for a private result.
  • Anyone with a new, severe or worsening symptom: contact your GP or call NHS 111. A test you buy today is not a substitute for being examined.

Common reasons people choose this test

  • Tiredness that has not settled after a general blood panel
  • Pins and needles or numbness in the hands or feet
  • A sore tongue, mouth ulcers or cracked lips
  • Long-term vegan, vegetarian or very restricted eating
  • Coeliac disease, Crohn's, colitis or bowel surgery
  • Weight-loss surgery in the past

These are reasons people choose to test, not signs that something is wrong. A result is one part of a picture your doctor puts together with your history and an examination.

What your result looks like

Every result is shown with the unit and the reference range exactly as the laboratory reported it, with the doctor’s note underneath.

Example reportIllustrative, not a real result
  • Vitamin A (retinol)In range
    Result
    1.9 µmol/L
    Range
    1.05–2.8
  • Beta carotene
    Result
    n/a
    Range
    on your report
  • Red-cell folate▼ Low
    Result
    250 nmol/L
    Range
    >340

Doctor’s note (example)

Red cell folate is low, which reflects the last few months of intake. A clinician may discuss whether a short course of folic acid is needed, and how diet can help keep it up.

…and 7 more markers. Values above are examples. Your report shows your own results with the laboratory’s units and reference range for your age and sex, reviewed, signed and released by a GMC-registered doctor.

How it works

  1. You book your appointmentA trained clinician takes your sample at one of our London clinics. Nothing to do at home.
  2. The clinician takes your sampleA single clinic blood draw by a trained clinician
  3. The laboratory analyses itYour sample is processed for the measurements included in this test. Lab processing typically takes 3 to 5 working days from receipt of your sample.
  4. A doctor reviews and releases itA GMC-registered doctor reads every result and signs the report before it reaches you.
Sample
Clinic blood draw
Preparation
No fasting required
Who it's for
Any sex · ages 18+

How to prepare

What we can and can’t tell you

The reference range beside each result is the laboratory’s own. A result in range is not a clean bill of health and a result outside it is not a diagnosis. Most ranges cover about 95% of healthy people, so about 1 in 20 healthy people fall just outside any one range. No test result replaces an examination or your own doctor’s judgement, and none of these panels is a cancer screening programme.

Read the full note

The reference range printed beside each of your results is the laboratory's own, and it is the range that applies to your result. We do not apply a second range of our own, and we do not tell you that a result the laboratory reported as normal is nonetheless too low or too high. If you see a claim elsewhere that your result ought to sit inside a narrower band than the one the laboratory printed, treat it with caution and ask your doctor.

Some assays cannot give an exact figure above or below a certain point, and those results are reported the way the laboratory sends them, for example as a value greater than a stated number. A result in range is not a clean bill of health, and a result outside a range is not a diagnosis: most reference ranges are set to cover about 95% of healthy people, so some healthy people fall just outside them. No blood test replaces an examination, a scan or your own doctor's judgement, and none of these panels is a screening programme for cancer.

If you have a symptom that is new, severe, or getting worse, contact your GP or NHS 111 rather than waiting for a test result. In an emergency call 999.

Frequently asked questions

Why red-cell folate rather than serum folate?

Red-cell folate measures the folate held inside your red blood cells rather than what is circulating in the plasma. UK clinical guidance suggests measuring it when serum folate is normal but a doctor still suspects a deficiency.

How is active B12 different from a standard B12?

Active B12 (holotranscobalamin) measures the fraction of B12 that your cells can take up. UK guidance accepts either active or total B12 as a first test, and your doctor reads the result alongside your symptoms rather than on its own.

How long do results take?

The laboratory typically takes 3 to 5 working days from receiving your sample. This does not include kit delivery, sample collection or return postage. A doctor reviews your results before they are released.

Can I choose a home kit or a clinic?

This test is a clinic blood draw, as it needs a venous sample for accuracy. We arrange a convenient appointment for you.

Is a doctor involved?

Yes. Every result is reviewed by a GMC-registered doctor who signs it off and explains what it means and what to do next.

Is it confidential?

Your results are available through your secure patient portal. Our privacy policy explains how your information is handled and when it may be shared to provide your care.

What happens to my sample and results?

Your sample is analysed at a UKAS-accredited laboratory (ISO 15189). A GMC-registered doctor then reads every result and signs the report before it is released, so nothing reaches you unreviewed. There is no option to receive results without a doctor reading them first. The report arrives in your secure portal in plain English: each result with its unit and the laboratory's own reference range, and the doctor's note on what the set means read together. If a result sits outside its range the report says so and explains what usually happens next, which is most often a conversation with your own GP, who can act on it alongside your history and examination. Most reference ranges are set to cover about 95% of healthy people, so about 1 in 20 healthy people fall just outside any one of them. On a report with many results it is common for one to sit just outside its range, and a single number on its own rarely tells the whole story. If a result needs urgent attention, the reviewing doctor is alerted straight away and we contact you by phone the same working day rather than leaving it in the portal for you to find. If a specific result needs rechecking, the reviewing doctor says so in your report.

People also check

See all longevity & prevention tests
Doctor-reviewed results
In plain English, signed by a GMC-registered doctor
Laboratory testing
Read each test’s coverage and limitations
No GP referral
Order directly, no waiting list
Private & discreet
Secure results, your own private portal

Cookies on privatetests

We only use the cookies this shop needs to work, like your basket and sign-in. No analytics, advertising or session-recording cookies. Cookie policy