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Background Faecal Immunochemical Testing (FIT) is now a core step in the referral and investigation of patients presenting with symptoms of possible colorectal cancer (CRC). Patients with a positive FIT result qualify for an urgent suspected cancer referral (‘two week wait’) for definitive investigation, with the aim of prioritising resources to those at greatest risk, and diagnosing cancers early.While delayed FIT return could significantly impact diagnostic timelines, current evidence around variation in symptomatic FIT return is limited. Identifying who is less likely to return the test is vital to understand health inequalities, barriers to completion and developing tailored interventions.We aimed to identify demographic and socioeconomic factors associated with FIT return among symptomatic patients.Methods Pseudo-anonymised data for symptomatic FIT requests made between 01/01/2023 and 31/12/2023 were routinely collected at the pathology hub serving the Northeast of England. For analysis, eligible patients were those aged 18 or over, for whom sex, postcode sector and return status were reported. After ineligible patients were removed, the dataset comprised 125,659 patients.Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) quintiles, ethnicity tertiles and rural-urban categories were assigned using postcode sector. Chi-square tests were conducted to examine associations between fixed characteristics and FIT kit return status. A logistic regression was carried out to assess the effect of age, sex, IMD quintiles, urban-rural category, and ethnicity tertiles on the likelihood of not returning the FIT kit within 10 weeks. Sensitivity analyses (i) excluded those aged under 50 and (ii) removed the 10-week window for test return. Final models had adequate fit.Results 116,786 patients (93%) returned FIT. Patients under 50, males, those in the most deprived areas, those in urban areas, and those in the most ethnically diverse areas had significantly higher rates of non-return. The overall model (which was statistically significant) included five characteristic variables: age, sex, IMD quintiles, urban-rural category, and ethnicity tertiles. Sensitivity analysis revealed similar patterns.Conclusion Whilst FIT completion was high, socio-demographic patterning of (non-)return was evident. Further research examining barriers and facilitators to FIT completion is needed to inform measures to address the observed inequalities.