Record competition for GP training posts leaves four in five applicants rejected

Competition for GP specialty training posts has reached a record high, with five doctors vying for every available place in England.

Newly-released NHS England statistics show there were 20,995 applications for 4,276 general practice ST1 training posts in the first recruitment round for 2025 – a competition ratio of 4.91. 

This represents a 39.6% on-year increase in applications from 2024 (15,036 places) compared to just 4.4% more available training posts (4,096 in 2024). 

It is the largest mismatch between the number of applicants and places recorded by NHS England (going back to 2013). 

First-round applications for GP specialty training have nearly doubled in just the last two years, with 10,514 applications in 2023. 

BMA resident doctors committee (RDC) co-chairs Dr Melissa Ryan and Dr Ross Nieuwoudt said the ‘staggering’ figures demonstrated the need for Government action. 

They said: ‘Perhaps most gallingly in a country where so many patients are unable to see a GP, there are five doctors applying for every GP training post.  

‘That leaves four out of every five doctors who applied to become GPs unable to do so.  

‘The result will be more of what we have already seen: an ever larger cohort of doctors unemployed, stuck, or looking for the exits. The moment could not be more urgent for Government to bring forward plans to alleviate the situation for UK graduates.  

Dr Selvaseelan Selvarajah, a GP and GP educator in east London, told Pulse the ‘demoralisation’ faced by graduates unable to secure a GP training post ‘could impact NHS retention and future recruitment’. 

‘As a GP trainer and training programme director, it is both encouraging and concerning to see such a high level of interest in general practice’, he said.  

‘The profession is clearly recognised as vital and attractive, but current capacity cannot meet demand.  

‘The significance of these figures cannot be underestimated. This situation is not just a statistical concern; it represents a turning point for medical workforce planning that must be addressed now to safeguard the future of general practice and NHS patient care.’ 

Dr Selvarajah said the figures showed the need for more training places as well as ‘improved support for unsuccessful applicants, and more transparent guidance about alternative career pathways’. 

An NHS England spokesperson told Pulse: ‘Filling every one of our core and specialty medical training places across England means we have a record number of highly trained, skilled, and compassionate doctors starting their training to provide vital care for patients right across the country. 

‘However we know that competition ratios are too high and are causing undue stress for applicants, which is why we are working with the government on a revised workforce plan, and we will create 1,000 extra posts over the next three years through the 10 year health plan, to help ensure all our trainee doctors who want a job in the NHS can get one.’ 

They said there was a further recruitment round in the summer to fill remaining vacancies and any new vacancies for programmes starting in February 2026, and this selection process was ongoing. 

An updated NHS workforce plan, due to be published later this year, will replace the previous Government’s 2023 strategy, which had aimed to increase GP training places to 6,000 by 2031. 

A DHSC spokesperson said: ‘It’s good news for patients that the highest ever number of highly trained, skilled, and compassionate doctors are in post across the country. However, the training bottlenecks we inherited are unfair to doctors, which is why this government is ensuring current first-years will emerge from their foundation training into a transformed landscape. 

‘We have already reformed GP funding to recruit extra 2,000 GPs and we’re committed to training thousands more by further expanding GP specialty training places.

‘We’re also prioritising UK medical graduates and other doctors who have worked in the NHS for a significant period for specialty training – all alongside providing the biggest pay rise for resident doctors in decades.’

A BMA survey in July revealed that half (52%) of doctors finishing their foundation training in the summer had no ‘substantive employment or regular locum work’ secured for August. 

In June, the union backed a proposal to ‘prioritise’ UK medical school graduates for training posts over international medical graduates (IMGs). 

This month, organisations including the Doctors’ Association UK (DAUK) and British International Doctors Association (BIDA) urged the Government to ‘substantially expand specialty training numbers to match domestic graduate output and wider NHS needs’.