Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of (a) home students and (b) non-home students who graduated from the UK with a primary medical degree from 2010 to 2020 remain working in the NHS.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department does not hold the data requested. The Department does though hold data from internal analysis that may give wider context to the question tabled and this is included below.

This analysis shows that of United Kingdom medical school students graduating in approximately 2012 to 2020, 93% of UK domiciled and 78% of non-UK domiciled students had entered the Foundation Programme year 2, as of 2024. Approximately 73% of UK and 55% of non-UK domiciled students had entered core/specialty training by 2024, though this number may rise further with time due to the level of competition to enter specialty medical training.

The following table shows the entrants to UK medical school from 2007 to 2015, tracked to registration with the General Medical Council (GMC) and entry to initial stages of NHS training, by domicile at entry to medical school:

Source: the Department of Health and Social Care’s analysis of UK Medical Education Database, Higher Education Statistics Agency, and General Medical Council data, may not match other sources.

Notes:

1. data is currently only available to March 2024;
2. the total entrants to the UK medical schools will include both those on UK Government funded places but also self-funded students at UK medical schools;
3. analysis only tracks doctors into NHS training, some graduates may be in UK medical employment outside the NHS such as research/academia/industry;
4. the numbers in specialty training may rise with time due to the competition in recruitment;
5. data is not held by year of graduation, however students starting medical schools in 2007 to 2015 will correspond approximately to graduates between 2012 to 2020, therefore this is a reasonable proxy for the requested graduate cohorts; and
6. the data represents the vast majority of UK medical students, although it may not match other sources of medical school entrant data as it includes only the four most common medical school courses.

The table above shows the entrants to UK medical schools between 2007 and 2015 by their domicile status at entry to medical school and the proportion who are then seen on the GMC register of doctors, those who have entered year one of foundation medical training, those who have entered year two of foundation medical training, and those who have entered the first level of core/specialty medical training. This analysis tracks medical students’ progress though NHS medical training up to 2024.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many staff responsible for UK Foundation programme allocation process are (a) NHS employees, (b) civil servants and (c) people involved in direct clinical care.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The UK Foundation Programme Office (UKFPO) facilitates the operation and continuing development of the Foundation Programme. It is jointly funded and governed by NHS England and the four United Kingdom health departments.

All of the UKFPO’s administrative team are employees of the National Health Service, none are civil servants. Many of the team have wider experience of working in hospital settings directly with foundation doctors, or of working in foundation and medical education settings.

The UKFPO's National Clinical Director is a clinician, and the role of the Clinical Advisor for Recruitment is shared by two foundation school directors who are also both clinicians. The team is also directly responsible to medical directors in the four nation statutory education bodies (SEBs).

The UKFPO has a Foundation Recruitment Group which oversees its recruitment and allocation activity and processes. This group includes stakeholders like the Medical Schools Council, the British Medical Association, and medical school representatives, as well as the four nation SEBs.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what number of UK citizens have obtained a primary medical degree outside the UK by country in each of the last five years.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department does not hold the data requested. Data is available that shows the scale of doctors employed in National Health Service trusts in England who qualified outside the United Kingdom and who declare a UK nationality. The data is not available by year of graduation, but an indication of annual numbers is possible by using the year of first General Medical Council (GMC) registration.

Within NHS trusts in England, an average of 473 UK nationals who qualified outside the UK had registered with the GMC annually in the latest five years of available data, from 2019 to 2023. This will not count doctors who do not work in NHS trusts in England, and may include international medical graduates who gained UK citizenship after graduation or UK employment. The table attached presents the total number of doctors employed in NHS trusts in England who qualified outside the UK and who declare a UK nationality, and the ten largest countries of qualification for the years 2019 to 2023.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many additional medical places are funded in start in 2026 compared with 2025.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

In England, the Office for Students (OfS) sets the maximum fundable limit for medical school places on an annual basis. For the 2025/26 academic year, the OfS has published the maximum fundable limit at 8,126 for medical school places, with further information avaiable at the following link:

https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/for-providers/finance-and-funding/medicine-and-dentistry-funding/medical-and-dental-maximum-fundable-limits/

OfS will publish the limit for the 2026/27 academic year in due course.

There are currently approximately 9,500 specialty training places. We set out in the 10-Year Health Plan for England that over the next three years we will create 1,000 new specialty training posts, with a focus on specialties where there is greatest need. We will set out next steps in due course.

The Government is committed to training the staff we need, including doctors, to ensure patients are cared for by the right professional, when and where they need it. We will publish a 10 Year Workforce Plan to set out action to create a workforce ready to deliver the transformed services set out in the 10-Year Health Plan.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data he holds on the number of bedrooms available for parents with a baby on the neonatal unit by (a) Trust and (b) neonatal units.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The results from NHS England’s Maternity and Neonatal Infrastructure Review, commissioned in 2023, showed that there are 747 parental accommodation rooms within neonatal units nationally. NHS England does not hold data on the standard of these rooms. However, there is undoubtedly variation in the provision of parental accommodation at neonatal units across England and we know that not all maternity hospitals are currently able to offer adequate accommodation for families due to the historic undercapitalisation across the National Health Service. A summary of the findings report is available at the following link:

https://www.england.nhs.uk/long-read/maternity-and-neonatal-infrastructure-review-findings/#:~:text=Against%20a%20backdrop%20of%20a,serious%20risk%20of%20imminent%20breakdown.

Data on the number of parental accommodation rooms is attached.

Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of UK primary medical degree graduates were (a) British and (b) non-British by country in each of the last five years.

Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The Department of Health and Social Care does not hold information on the nationality of United Kingdom primary medical degree student graduates. The Office for Students publishes statistics on the fee statuses of annual intakes to medical courses across the UK, but not of those graduating. The fee statuses can act as a guide for UK versus non-UK nationality. The following table shows the fee statuses for intakes to UK medical schools during the academic years 2021/22 to 2025/26:

Source: Medical and Dental Intakes, Office for Students, available at the following link:
https://www.officeforstudents.org.uk/for-providers/finance-and-funding/medicine-and-dentistry-funding/data-on-medical-and-dental-intakes/
Note: data for 2025/26 is the initial intake data, hence there is no data on withdrawals during the year, as with prior data.

Rules on the eligibility for home fees status are complex, but generally individuals must be resident and ‘settled’ in the UK on ‘the first day of the academic year’ for which they are paying fees to be eligible for home student status. With some exceptions, students must also have been ‘ordinarily resident’ in the UK on the first day of the first academic year of their course and for the three years before that date.

Found: Chair) Jess Asato (Labour; Lowestoft) Sureena Brackenridge (Labour; Wolverhampton North East) Dr Caroline Johnson

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Helen Hayes (Chair); Jess Asato; Dr Caroline Johnson; Darren Paffey

Submit Evidence (by 27 Mar 2026)

The Education Select Committee and the Health and Social Care Select Committee have jointly launched an inquiry into the mental health of children and young people. This inquiry will examine mental health support and services provided in education and community settings, available to children and young people up to the age of 25. The Committees wish to understand how this provision is integrated with specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), acute and other statutory NHS services. 

Submit Evidence (by 10 Apr 2026)

The Education Committee is looking to examine how artificial intelligence (AI) and EdTech are reshaping education across England, from early years settings to schools, colleges and universities. The Committee will explore the opportunities these technologies present for improving learning and teaching, as well as the risks they pose - including their potential impact on children’s digital rights, safeguarding, inequalities and assessment.