Every new GP training post filled by UK graduates and priority groups
Every GP specialty training place in the latest recruitment round was accepted by UK graduates or those already working in the NHS, new data has revealed.
All 4,364 GP ST1 places were offered to and accepted by applicants in a ‘priority group’ that was defined in recent legislation prioritising UK graduates for training places, according to NHS England data.
The Medical Training (Prioritisation) Act, which became law in March this year, mandates UK graduates and others in a select ‘priority group’ being offered training places before any other eligible applicants can.
By comparison, in last year’s first recruitment round, 62% of places were taken by trainees in this group (2,646 out of 4,242).
It comes as some doctor leaders have warned that the law unfairly excludes some international medical graduates (IMGs).
The Government has claimed the data shows ‘the real life and immediate impact’ of the legislation.
As well as the GP specialty figures, it highlighted the fact that 98% of all training roles had been filled by prioritised groups and competition ratios had halved, from 4:1 to 2:1.
NHS England said: ‘The latest NHS England management data has shown the real life and immediate impact of the Medical Training Prioritisation Act.
‘The Act came into force in March responding to concerns about increasing competition faced by UK-trained doctors for postgraduate medical training posts.
‘It has delivered what it promised despite being urgent legislation coming into effect during a live recruitment meaning we could only deliver prioritisation at offer stage rather than application stage as we will in the future.
‘Competition ratios have halved, prioritised doctors have filled 98% of roles, and in some specialties, like general practice, all posts have been filled by prioritised doctors.’
Prioritised groups
Specialty training
For 2026 the following groups will be prioritised any other eligible applicants:
- UK medical graduates;
- Those with a primary medical qualification from medical schools in the UK or Republic of Ireland;
- Those with a primary medical qualification from medical schools in Iceland, Principality of Liechtenstein, Norway, or Switzerland;
- Persons who have completed, or are currently on, a relevant qualifying UK programme;
And those within the following priority groups:
- British citizen;
- a Commonwealth citizen who has the right of abode in the United Kingdom under section 2 of the Immigration Act 1971;
- an Irish citizen who does not require leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom under that Act;
- person with indefinite leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom;
- a person who has leave to enter or remain in the United Kingdom which was granted by virtue of residence scheme immigration rules within the meaning given by section 17 of the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020.
The majority of applicants who originally applied (57%) and who successfully interviewed (53%) for round one in 2026 were in the ‘non-priority’ group, but none of this group were offered places.
At the BMA’s annual representative meeting yesterday, attendees voted to carry a motion which criticised the legislation for excluding refugee doctors from prioritisation unless they belong to another priority group such as holding indefinite leave to remain status.
The motion stated: ‘These doctors are displaced and have no prospect of returning to their country of origin. They have already had significant delays to their career progression and this Bill will be a further barrier to them utilising their expertise to benefit the NHS.
‘It asks for the BMA to ask the Government to add this group to the priority group or create a career pathway that will not exclude them from applying for speciality training on a level playing field with locally trained graduates.’
Prior to the prioritisation bill becoming law, more than 2,000 doctors including GPs signed a petition urging the House of Lords to add ‘international doctors’ with ‘two or more years of continued medical practice’ in the NHS to the priority list – however, the bill passed through the Lords unamended.
