Important Update to Medical Specialty Training and Foundation Programme Recruitment (2026)

The Government has introduced a bill to prioritise UK medical graduates for foundation training and give preference to UK graduates and doctors with significant NHS experience for specialty training. This legislation is now going through Parliament.

Why is this happening? 

• The UK wants to build a sustainable domestic supply of doctors and reduce the NHS’s reliance on international medical graduates.  

• Since the lifting of visa restrictions in 2020, UK-trained doctors have faced growing competition from overseas-trained doctors for training posts, with applicants rising from 12,000 in 2019 to nearly 40,000 this year. 

• Many UK medical graduates and others who are already working in the NHS missed out on specialty training places. 

Impact on 2026 Applicants 

Subject to the successful passage of the Bill, the changes will apply to current applicants, even though applications have closed.   

Specialty training programme places starting in 2026 priority will go to: 

• 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 the relevant qualifying UK training programme (e.g. Foundation for core training, core training for higher training).

• 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, compare 5th January 2026 Medical Training (Prioritisation) Bill 1,

• a 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.

For 2026, prioritisation will be implemented at the offer stage.   

Prioritised applicants will be offered ahead of non-prioritised applicants.  Non-prioritised applicants will only be offered a training programme if there are no prioritised applicants remaining. 

An applicant’s prioritisation status will be determined based on information recorded in their application form at time of submission.

Specialty training applications for posts commencing from August 2027 onwards 

Regulations will set priority groups, focusing on those with significant NHS experience.  This will be determined and communicated before recruitment opens for posts commencing from August 2027 onwards.  

For 2027 recruitment (posts starting from August 2027 onwards), prioritisation will apply at both the shortlisting and offer stage of the recruitment process. 

Full details on how this will be applied will follow once the legislation is passed and will apply to all applicants who submit an application to 2027 specialty recruitment round. 

What should applicants do? 

We would encourage you to look out for further updates on our website which we will share as soon as more detail is available.   

Please refer to the NHS England Frequently Asked Questions which provides the information we have so far.  

You can read the announcement on the Government website. Government to prioritise UK medical graduates for training places - GOV.UK.