UK Medical Graduates to Be Prioritised for NHS Specialty Training Posts

LONDON Jan 14:  UK medical graduates are set to receive priority access to specialty training posts in the NHS under emergency legislation announced by the Government yesterday.

The proposed Medical Training (Prioritisation) Bill would legally require UK medical graduates to be prioritised for entry to both core and higher specialty training from 2026.

Alongside the legislation, the Government has pledged to create an additional 1,000 specialty training posts in England this year, with applications opening in April 2026.

The move comes amid soaring competition for training places, which has left growing numbers of doctors without jobs. Analysis published last year by The Doctor magazine showed that 59,698 applications were submitted for just 12,743 specialty training posts in 2024—an increase of 39.5 per cent compared with 2023.

BMA Resident Doctors Committee chair Jack Fletcher cautiously welcomed the announcement, saying the use of emergency legislation suggested the Government was “finally waking up to the urgency of the situation” around training capacity.

However, he warned that the proposals fall far short of what is needed to address the scale of the crisis. He said the creation of 1,000 additional posts in England, as outlined in the Government’s 10-year workforce plan, would not be sufficient on its own.

“Today is a step forward, but we are still a long way from giving resident doctors confidence that the Government can solve the jobs crisis,” Dr Fletcher said.

“This new policy of prioritising UK medical graduates for NHS jobs, which will apply across the four nations, will to some extent reduce the number of doctors who cannot find work despite the state having invested heavily in their training.”

He added that patients should not expect a significant increase in doctors on wards as a result of the announcement.

“There remain no genuinely new posts, and this alone will not reduce the massive gap between applicants and places—nearly 30,000 in England this year. To fix the jobs crisis, thousands more training posts are still needed. That is why doctors in England voted overwhelmingly in December to continue industrial action over the NHS jobs crisis.”

International impact

Under the proposals, medical graduates from the Republic of Ireland, Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein would also receive prioritisation for specialty training and the foundation programme, reflecting existing trade agreements with the UK.

International medical graduates (IMGs) already in the UK who have completed foundation or core training, or who hold indefinite leave to remain, EU settled status or British dual citizenship, would also qualify for prioritisation.

Other IMGs would still be able to apply for specialty training posts, but their applications would not be prioritised.

Dr Fletcher noted that the Government’s approach differs from BMA recommendations, which call for all IMGs registered with the GMC, practising in the NHS by 5 March 2025, and with at least two years’ NHS experience to be prioritised.

“We are concerned about the impact on doctors who trained abroad but have significant NHS experience,” he said. “Any changes must properly recognise and protect these doctors, and this legislation does not yet go far enough.”

Foundation programme changes

The bill would also prioritise UK graduates for places on the UK Foundation Programme. Last year, shortages resulted in nearly 700 graduates being allocated so-called “placeholder” posts rather than confirmed jobs, leaving many newly qualified doctors uncertain about where they would work.

The Government hopes prioritisation will significantly reduce the number of graduates without firm foundation posts and speed up the resolution of placeholder allocations.

Subject to parliamentary scrutiny, the legislation would apply prioritisation at the offer stage for specialty training posts beginning in 2026. For the foundation programme, prioritisation would take place at the stage of allocation to foundation schools.