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https://www.nhs.uk

Infrastructure

· 9 checks — DNS, redirects, IPv6, crawlability, URL variants, and domain intelligence rolled into one auditable list.
SCORE
85
GRADE
B
FIX
0
REVIEW
5
PASS
3
INFO
1
Probed from Sao Paulo, Brazil
200 OK
Checks
9
3 PASS 5 REVIEW
C
DNS Records
Action
1 A records, 221 ms lookup
REVIEW
1 A records, 221 ms lookup
Info::
Resolves to 1 IPv4 address(es)
Got: 23.15.133.178
Info::
Single A record — no DNS redundancy
Multiple A records provide failover if one server goes down.
Info::
No IPv6 (AAAA) records
Warning::
CNAME record at zone apex
A CNAME at the zone apex can break MX and NS records. Use ALIAS/ANAME or A records instead.
Got: e10931.ig15.akamaiedge.net
Info::
No NS records found
Info::
No MX records — email not configured via DNS
Info::
CAA records not checked
CAA record lookup requires a specialized DNS resolver. This check will be available in a future update.
Info::
No SPF record found in TXT records
SPF helps prevent email spoofing. Add a TXT record starting with 'v=spf1'.
Warning::
DNS resolution is slow (221 ms)
Slow DNS adds latency to every page load. Consider a faster DNS provider.
Got: 221 ms
A23.15.133.178
AAAA—
CNAMEe10931.ig15.akamaiedge.net
NS—
MX—
TXT—
CAALookup not available with standard resolver
Resolved in 221 ms

Multiple A records provide failover if one server goes down.

Why this matters

Single A record means a single point of failure — if that IP goes down, your site is unreachable until DNS TTL expires.

Learn more ▾

Add multiple A records for round-robin failover, or use a managed DNS provider with health-checked failover (Route 53, Cloudflare, NS1). Short TTL (60-300s) lets clients recover faster on outages.

Source: SRE practice / DNS architecture

A CNAME at the zone apex can break MX and NS records. Use ALIAS/ANAME or A records instead.

Why this matters

CNAME at the apex (example.com) breaks every other apex record (MX, TXT, NS) — DNS-protocol violation per RFC 1034.

Learn more ▾

RFC 1034 forbids CNAME alongside other records at the same name. Some DNS providers offer ALIAS / ANAME / flattened-CNAME records that work around this — use those instead. Otherwise apex-level CNAME breaks email (no MX), domain ownership verification (no TXT), and more.

Source: RFC 1034

CAA record lookup requires a specialized DNS resolver. This check will be available in a future update.

Why this matters

Informational: CAA (Certification Authority Authorization) records weren't checked in this scan.

SPF helps prevent email spoofing. Add a TXT record starting with 'v=spf1'.

Why this matters

Without SPF, receiving servers can't validate sending IPs — your domain is easier to spoof in phishing.

Learn more ▾

SPF complements DMARC. Both should be published. SPF records list authorized sending IPs (e.g., `v=spf1 include:_spf.google.com ~all` for Google Workspace). After publishing, verify in Google Postmaster Tools or mxtoolbox.

Source: RFC 7208 (SPF)

Slow DNS adds latency to every page load. Consider a faster DNS provider.

Why this matters

DNS resolution is slow — anycast DNS providers (Cloudflare, Route 53) typically resolve <50ms globally.

Source: DNS performance benchmarks

C
IPv6 Readiness
Action
No IPv6 support
REVIEW
No IPv6 support
Info::
No IPv6 (AAAA) records found
IPv6 support is increasingly important for global accessibility. About 40% of internet users have IPv6 connectivity.
No IPv6 Support
About 40% of internet users have IPv6. Consider adding AAAA records.

IPv6 support is increasingly important for global accessibility. About 40% of internet users have IPv6 connectivity.

Why this matters

No AAAA records — same impact as 'no IPv6 (AAAA) records'; IPv6-preferring clients pay extra latency falling back to IPv4.

Source: Google IPv6 stats

B
HTTP Probe Timing
Total 802 ms — DNS, TCP, TLS, TTFB, content transfer breakdown
REVIEW
DNS Lookup DNS Lookup — time to resolve the domain name to an IP address.
155 ms
TCP Connect TCP Connect — time to establish a TCP connection to the server.
213 ms
TLS Handshake TLS Handshake — time to complete the HTTPS encryption handshake.
215 ms
Time to First Byte Time to First Byte — how long the server takes to respond with the first byte of data.
802 ms
Total Time Total request time from DNS lookup through full response.
802 ms

Connection waterfall

DNS Lookup 155 ms TCP Connect 213 ms TLS Handshake 215 ms Server Processing 219 ms Content Transfer 0 ms
B
TLS Certificate Expiry & Recommendations
106 days until leaf cert expires — 4 issues to address
REVIEW

Certificate validity

106
days left
0d 30d 60d 90d+

Recommended actions

  • Add includeSubDomains to the HSTS directive
  • Add the preload directive and submit to hstspreload.org once max-age + includeSubDomains are in place
  • Enable DNSSEC on your domain for DNS spoofing protection
  • Enable OCSP stapling on your TLS server to remove a CA roundtrip and protect user privacy
B
CDN & Delivery
Azure CDN
REVIEW
Azure CDN
Info::
Site is served via Azure CDN CDN
Got: x-azure-ref: 20260407T175123Z-166ddb99d7fsmxqkhC1PARp2rc00000001q000000000maqv
CDN Detected: Azure CDN
Provider Azure CDN Evidence x-azure-ref: 20260407T175123Z-166ddb99d7fsmxqkhC1PARp2rc00000001q000000000maqv
A+
Redirect Chain
No redirects — direct access
PASS
No redirects — direct access
Info::
No redirects — direct access
Got: https://www.nhs.uk

https://www.nhs.uk

572 ms · HTTP/1.1 FINAL

#URLStatusTimeProtocolServer
1https://www.nhs.uk200572 msHTTP/1.1
A+
Crawlability
robots.txt present, sitemap with 3 URLs
PASS
robots.txt present, sitemap with 3 URLs
Info::
robots.txt is present
Got: 2674 bytes
Info::
sitemap.xml is present
Info::
sitemap.xml is valid XML
Info::
sitemap.xml contains 3 entries
Info::
Sitemap index with 3 child sitemaps
Info::
robots.txt references sitemap
robots.txt 200 OK
Size 2674 B Sitemaps referenced 1 User-agents Algolia Crawler, *, Googlebot, Ultraseek, AhrefsBot Blocking No — crawling allowed
User-agent: Ultraseek

Disallow: /

User-Agent: AhrefsBot 

Crawl-Delay: 5 	
User-agent: Algolia Crawler

Disallow: /scorecard/

Disallow: /Services/Dentists/Overview/DentistPatientAcceptanceVerification.aspx*

Disallow: /sign-up-to-be-contacted-for-research

Disallow: /contact-us/get-help-with-signing-up-for-contact-for-coronavirus-vaccine-studies/

User-agent: *

Disallow: /service-search/other-services/Psychological%20therapies%20(IAPT)/LocationSearch/10008

Disallow: /service-search/other-services/Psychological%20therapies%20%28IAPT%29/LocationSearch/10008

Disallow: /service-search/other-services/Psychologicaltherapies(IAPT)/LocationSearch/10008

Disallow: /contact-us/get-help-with-signing-up-for-contact-for-coronavirus-vaccine-studies/

Disallow: /contact-us/get-help-with-asking-for-a-coronavirus-test/

Disallow: /ask-for-a-coronavirus-test

Disallow: /ask-for-a-coronavirus-test/

Disallow: /book-a-coronavirus-vaccination

Disallow: /book-a-coronavirus-vaccination/

Disallow: /externalservices/surveyfeedapi/api/testfeed

Disallow: /Review/List/

Disallow: /Review/LeaveReview/

Disallow: /Conditions/

Disallow: /conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/pages/your-birth-plan.aspx

Disallow: /conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/testing-and-tracing/get-an-antigen-test-to-check-if-you-have-coronavirus/

Disallow: /campaignshowcase/

Disallow: /scorecard/ 

Disallow: /Service-Search/other-services/Cognitive-behavioural-therapy-(CBT)/LocationSearch/1908

Disallow: /Service-Search/other-services/NHS%20psychological%20therapies%20services%20(IAPT),%20including%20cognitive%20behavioural%20therapy%20(CBT)/LocationSearch/10008

Disallow: /service-search/other-services/Psychological-therapy-(NHS-IAPT)/LocationSearch/396

Disallow: /service-search/find-a-psychological-therapies-service/what-happens-when-you-refer-yourself

Disallow: /Service-Search/find-a-psychological-therapies-service/what-happens-when-you-refer-yourself

Disallow: /service-search/find-a-psychological-therapies-service/find-your-gp

Disallow: /Service-Search/find-a-psychological-therapies-service/find-your-gp

Disallow: /service-search/find-a-psychological-therapies-service/results

Disallow: /Service-Search/find-a-psychological-therapies-service/results

Disallow: /Services/Dentists/Overview/DentistPatientAcceptanceVerification.aspx*

Disallow: /tools/pages/toolslibrary.aspx?tag=*

Disallow: /sign-up-to-be-contacted-for-research

Disallow: /service-search/other-services/*/*/Export/*

Disallow: /every-mind-matters/mental-wellbeing-tips/your-mind-plan-quiz/application

User-agent: Googlebot

Disallow: /service-search/dist/images/loading.gif

Sitemap: https://www.nhs.uk/sitemap.xml
sitemap.xml 200 OK
Type Sitemap Index URLs 3 entries Valid XML Yes
Child Sitemaps:
A+
URL Variants
www/non-www, trailing slash, HTTP→HTTPS
PASS
www/non-www, trailing slash, HTTP→HTTPS
Info::
www/non-www redirect configured correctly (preferred: www)
Info::
HTTP correctly 301-redirects to HTTPS

www / non-www

200https://www.nhs.uk/
301https://nhs.uk/

Preferred variant: www

HTTP → HTTPS

301http://www.nhs.uk/ → https://www.nhs.uk/

Consistent

Domain Intelligence
Domain intelligence data not available
INFO
Domain intelligence data not available

RDAP and WHOIS lookup both failed

All checks on this page are automated. Results are estimates - run targeted manual reviews when the score affects a release decision.

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