Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to provide final year medical students assigned placeholder jobs with clarity on where they will begin working as doctors in August 2025.

We are aware that there is a delay in NHS England allocating some foundation year one doctors their programme details and work schedules. We have asked NHS England to urgently tackle this issue. We know there is more to do and NHS England is working to ensure that all posts are confirmed as soon as possible, while keeping applicants informed throughout the process, including through webinars.

NHS England is due to review the foundation programme allocation process to make sure it works well for applicants. The review is scheduled for after the 2025/26 allocations and is aiming to commence in 2026. NHS England will advise stakeholders on how they can input in due course.