Prioritisation for specialty training recruitment

The Medical Training (Prioritisation) Act 2026 became law on 6th March 2026 and will be applied to all specialty recruitment processes apart from ST1 Public Health.

Eligibility for prioritisation

For all 2026 recruitment rounds, applicants will be prioritised for specialty training offers based on the following criteria. This includes 2026 Round 3 which appoints for posts with a commencement date in 2027:

Country of Primary Medical Qualification

You will be prioritised if you hold any of the following: 

  • A primary medical qualification from an institution in the United Kingdom unless you have spent all, or a majority of your training for this qualification outside the British Isles. 
  • A primary medical qualification from an institution in Ireland unless you have spent all, or a majority of your training for this qualification outside Ireland. 
  • A primary medical qualification from an institution in any of the following countries: 
    • Iceland 
    • Principality of Liechtenstein 
    • Norway 
    • Switzerland 
Immigration status

You will be prioritised if you hold any of the following statuses: 

  • British citizen. 
  • A Commonwealth citizen with right of abode in the United Kingdom. 
  • Irish citizen. 
  • Indefinite Leave to Remain in the United Kingdom (Settled Status). 
  • EU settled status. 
  • EU pre-settled status. 

You will not be prioritised if you have any other status, including Partner or Dependent status. 

Relevant qualifying UK programme

You will be prioritised if you have completed, or are currently on, a relevant qualifying UK programme.

Relevant qualifying programme for CT1/ST1 recruitment

The relevant qualifying programme is the UK Foundation Programme only.

Relevant qualifying programmes for ST3/ST4 recruitment

For ST3/ST4 level recruitment, relevant programmes are:

  • The UK Foundation Programme.
  • Locum Appointment for Training (LAT) posts in the specialty you have applied for. A LAT in a different specialty will not result in a priority status.
  • A relevant UK training programme which is an entry route for the specialty you have applied for as stated in the person specification.

For example, Internal Medicine Training (IMT) is a relevant UK training programme for Cardiology ST4. It is not a relevant training programme for Urology ST3.
 
For specialties that have multiple entry routes, all relevant training programmes will count e.g. for Haematology, IMT and Paediatrics count as qualifying programmes.

Other programmes

Programmes that are not listed above are not eligible for prioritisation, these include:

  • The Malta Foundation Programme
  • Trust based programmes
  • Non-training posts that lead to an Alternative Certificate of Eligibility
NHS experience

For specialty training places starting in 2026, the specified immigration statuses above are being used as a practical proxy to capture applicants who are most likely to have significant experience working in the health service in the UK.

For 2027 the immigration statuses outlined above will not automatically apply and instead the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has powers to set out in regulations an additional group who will be prioritised on the basis of significant NHS experience, or by reference to their immigration status. This is yet to be determined but we will aim to publish this information in the early autumn, ahead of 2027 recruitment processes.

Priority groups

Applicants will be advised of their priority status prior to when offers begin for each recruitment round.
There are two statuses:

  • In the priority group.
  • Not in the priority group.

There is no prioritisation hierarchy within these groups; all applicants within the priority group have equal priority.

The number of applicants in each priority group will not be made available during the recruitment process.

Applicants will be given the opportunity to request a review of their status before the offers process for each recruitment round commences. It will not be possible to review priority statuses once offers for a recruitment round have commenced, even if offers for a particular specialty have not commenced.

From 2027 recruitment, all information to determine priority status will be collected in the application form and status determination will be automated. This will be displayed to applicants in Oriel.  Applicants who believe that they have been given the incorrect prioritisation status have the right to request a review.  This must be completed before shortlisting processes commence. The deadline to request a review is:

 

Recruitment round Application window closes Deadline for requesting review of prioritisation status
Recruitment round 2027 Round 1 Application window closes Thursday, 19 November 2026 Deadline for requesting review of prioritisation status Tuesday, 24 November 2026 at 17:00 (UK time)
Recruitment round Round 2 2026 Application window closes Thursday, 10 December 2026 Deadline for requesting review of prioritisation status Tuesday, 15 December 2026 at 17:00 (UK time)
Recruitment round Round 3 2026 Application window closes Thursday, 29 July 2027 Deadline for requesting review of prioritisation status Tuesday, 3 August 2027 at 17:00 (UK time)

It is important that applicants review their allocated prioritisation status in a timely manner, as requests for review of status will not be considered after the deadline for the recruitment round has passed.

Interviews

If you are invited to interview but are not in the priority group, you should still attend.
If you are appointable, you may still be offered a post, once all the applicants in the priority group have been considered.

Ranking and offers

Prioritisation does not affect the rank applicants receive following interview; ranks are based on performance in the selection process only. 

Applicants in the priority group will be considered for offers in rank order before applicants that are not in the priority group. This is done during the offers matching process and is repeated each time offers matching takes place.

Prioritisation does not guarantee that applicants in the priority group will be made an offer as there are a finite number of posts available.

Applicants who are not in the priority group will be considered for offers when the list of appointable prioritised applicants has been exhausted and there are still vacancies remaining.

Special Circumstances

Applicants with approved special circumstances will be pre-allocated as detailed in the published special circumstances guidance.

If you are not in the priority group, you may still be pre allocated but only after all applicants in the priority group have been considered for offers. This may reduce our ability to pre-allocate you to a post in the region(s) you are restricted to.

Page last reviewed: 16 June 2026
Next review due: 16 June 2027