Swap to Stop scheme drives 125,000 smokers to try vaping, study finds
March 25, 2026
Photo: iStock
New research from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) has found that the UK government’s “Swap to Stop” initiative has led to a significant rise in smokers turning to vaping as a quit aid, with around 125,000 people in England attempting to quit using e-cigarettes within a year of its launch.
The study, conducted by the NIHR Policy Research Unit in Addictions at King’s College London and University College London, and published in the journal Addiction, analysed data from the long-running Smoking Toolkit Study. The survey uses monthly telephone interviews of adults aged over 16 to track smoking behaviours and quit attempts across England.
Researchers found that between December 2023, when the government-backed scheme was introduced, and December 2024, there was a sustained 1.5 percentage point increase in the proportion of people using vapes to try to quit smoking over the past year.
The Swap to Stop programme was designed to encourage smokers to move away from combustible tobacco by offering free vape starter kits alongside behavioural support. According to the study, the initiative has had a measurable impact at population level.
Professor Leonie Brose, professor of addictions and public health at King’s and the study’s senior author, said the findings highlight the potential of targeted interventions.
“Smoking kills more than half of its long term users, so even seemingly small changes in behaviour can have a large impact at a population level,” she said. “It’s reassuring to see such a clear population level effect associated with this initiative, showing that well designed schemes can meaningfully shift people towards less harmful alternatives,”
The findings build on a growing body of evidence suggesting that vaping can be more effective than traditional nicotine replacement therapies (NRT) for smoking cessation. Previous research has indicated that smokers using e-cigarettes are significantly more likely to quit, with some studies showing success rates of around one in five when combined with behavioural support.
Dr Vera Buss, senior research fellow in behavioural science at UCL and the study’s lead author, said the results were encouraging for both policymakers and public health professionals. “People who use vapes are about 50 per cent more likely to quit smoking successfully than those who use nicotine replacement therapy, and quitting smoking substantially reduces the risk of many serious diseases,” she said.
The researchers suggest that, given the scheme’s apparent success, continued funding should be considered in England. They also point to the potential for other countries to adopt similar models, where compatible with national tobacco control strategies.
The study was funded by the NIHR Policy Research Unit in Addictions, with additional support from Cancer Research UK and the UK Prevention Research Partnership.
