NHS data shows UK-trained and prioritised applicants filled 98% of 2026 specialty training posts

NHS England says the first specialty training recruitment round since the Medical Training (Prioritisation) Act took effect has sharply shifted accepted posts toward UK graduates and other priority groups, with prioritised applicants taking 98% of roles. In general practice, NHS England said “for the first time ever” all training places were accepted by UK graduates or applicants already working in the NHS, up from 62% last year.

The figures, published by NHS England on Saturday, are the first concrete indication of how the new law has changed recruitment outcomes since it came into force in March. The Act requires specialty training offers made in 2026 to go first to UK medical graduates and other defined priority groups.

According to NHS England management data from the 2026 specialty training offers round, 37,689 applications successfully met the required appointable standard for 9,520 specialty training posts, an overall competition ratio of 4-to-1. NHS England said 19,706 of those applications were from prioritised candidates, reducing the competition ratio for that group to 2-to-1. NHS England said: “Competition ratios have halved, prioritised doctors have filled 98% of roles, and in some specialties, like General Practice, all posts have been filled by prioritised doctors.”

The year-on-year shift was steep. NHS England said prioritised doctors filled 98% of roles in this cycle, up from 72% in 2025. In round 1 offers accepted so far, 1.75% were from non-prioritised applicants, down from 27.95% a year earlier. NHS England gave raw figures of 163 accepted offers from non-prioritised applicants this year, compared with 2,168 last year.

The figures are provisional. NHS England said they are management data drawn from the Oriel specialty recruitment system and are “subject to change over coming weeks as doctors make individual decisions.” It also said application totals should not be treated as the same as individual applicants because each candidate can make up to five applications.

The Medical Training (Prioritisation) Act 2026 received Royal Assent on March 5 and came into force the next day. Because the law took effect during a live recruitment round, NHS England said prioritisation this year could be applied only at the offer stage, not earlier in the process. From 2027, the law will extend prioritisation to interview selection as well as final offers.

The legislation was introduced after competition for postgraduate training posts climbed while the number of posts remained relatively static, increasing pressure to protect access for UK-trained doctors and those with NHS experience. In March, the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, the pediatricians’ professional body, said the change was intended to ease that pressure, while groups representing international medical graduates, including the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin, or BAPIO, raised concerns during the bill’s passage.

In its summary of the latest round, NHS England said: “In summary, 37,689 applications successfully met the required appointable level for one of 9,520 specialty training posts. This is a competition ratio of 4-1. 19,706 applications were from prioritised candidates, reducing the competition ratio to 2-1.”