This is the 5th edition of the UK Multi-Disciplinary Guidelines for Head and Neck Cancer, endorsed by seven national specialty associations involved in head and neck cancer care. Our aim is to provide a document can be used as a ready reference for multidisciplinary teams and a concise easy read for trainees. All evidence based recommendations in this edition are indicated by ‘(R)’ and where the multidisciplinary team of authors consider a recommendation to be based on clinical experience, it is denoted by ‘(G)’ as a good practice point.