The one thing that surprised me when I moved to the UK...

... was the fact that I cannot get my annual Pap smear, as I am under 25, despite having started getting them at 18.

I know that under that age, most women aren't at risk, but there have been cases where some are. Wouldn't it be better to catch any sort of change at a young age and early on, versus something being there at 22 and it being allowed to go undetected until they hit the age 25...?

It bothers me. Wales and Scotland seem to have it start at a better age, but why did England change it to 25 in 2004? I know it was to save money (despite them saying it was because before 25, it is rare), and that is obviously important, but...

There's been a recent discussion of this topic in this thread on Jade Goody:

http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=51136.0

I believe the conclusion for personal, individual cases was - it can't hurt to ask for an annual exam.  The worst they can say is no, and there's always the option of going private.

Not saying I agree with the rise in minimum age, mind you....

I gave my GP the results of my PAP smear (as I had them in writing from the states) when I moved over.  I didn't get another PAP smear until this year when I was having issues, so before any treatment could be done they had to test me as they didn't have a recent test on file.  I don't think I'm due another test for something like 2+ years as I'll be 25 in August.   

Like Meg said doesn't hurt to ask for an exam.  I never thought to do it.