Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has made an assessment of the way in which medical school places are allocated.

500 medical school places have already been allocated by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) to established medical schools in England and will be available to students starting medical school from September 2018.

HEFCE and Health Education England (HEE) are currently undertaking a competitive bidding process for established and prospective new medical schools to bid for the remaining 1,000 places that will be available from September 2019. Amongst other criteria, bids will based on priorities such as widening participation in to the profession, a focus on priority specialties and geographical areas across England.

Bids are being assessed by an expert assessment panel and HEFCE and HEE are expected to confirm the allocation of the additional 1,000 places in March 2018.

The draft health and care workforce strategy that is currently out for consultation proposes that HEE will consider a periodic review of the number and allocation of medical school places.