UK medical graduates to be prioritised for training places under new Bill
Medical graduates from the UK and Ireland will be prioritised for training places under new legislation to be proposed by the Government.
The move forms part of the Health Secretary’s aim of resolving the dispute between the Government and resident doctors in England.
Wes Streeting said that while the NHS “will never exclude international talent” he wants to give “home-grown medics” the “level playing field they deserve”.
He met representatives from the British Medical Association (BMA) last week with a view to ending strike action by doctors.
The Medical Training (Prioritisation) Bill will be introduced to Parliament on Tuesday January 13.
The proposed legislation will prioritise doctors from the UK and Ireland, and those who have worked in the NHS for a significant period, for specialty training places.
Specialty training is the final stage of becoming a fully qualified doctor, with a focus on a specialist area of medicine or general practice.
Graduates from the UK and Ireland would also be prioritised for foundation training under the Bill.
Since 2019, the number of applicants for training posts has risen from 12,000 to almost 40,000, the Department of Health and Social Care said
According to NHS figures, of the 33,123 doctors who applied for specialty training in 2025, some 37% (12,316) were UK graduates, while the remainder were from overseas.
Mr Streeting said: “British taxpayers spend £4 billion training medics every year, so it makes little sense for many of them to then be left struggling to get speciality training places and fearing for their futures.
“The catastrophic mismanagement of the system by the previous administration has left UK graduates competing with doctors from around the world.
“To protect our investment and give them a path to become the next generation of NHS doctors, we are taking a number of measures including today introducing a Bill to prioritise graduates from UK medical schools for specialty training places.
“We are bringing this forward now so that it will be in place for this year’s applicants.
“Our NHS will never exclude international talent, and these changes will also prioritise doctors from overseas who have worked in the NHS for a significant period, but this will restore our home-grown medics to the level playing field they deserve and ensure a sustainable medical workforce in the NHS.
“Together with our increase in the number of specialty places, instead of four resident doctors competing for every training post nationally, it will now be fewer than two resident doctors for each place.”
Mr Streeting met the BMA’s resident doctors committee last week.
Parties are now engaging in intense talks, in which jobs and specialty training will play a core part.
It is understood the future of this new legislation will be confirmed after the outcome of these talks.
The BMA is currently balloting its resident doctors members on whether or not to continue industrial action.
The union’s current mandate runs out this month, but this could be extended to August if the ballot is successful.
Resident doctors last walked out for five consecutive days in the run-up to Christmas as part of the dispute over jobs and pay.
Mr Streeting has said the union’s demand of an extra 26% pay rise was unaffordable on top of a large pay rise after Labour came into office in 2024.
Published: by Radio NewsHub