Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential impact of the Medical Training (Prioritisation) Act 2026 on international medical graduates employed in the NHS who had entered the 2026 recruitment cycle before that Act received Royal Assent.

The Medical Training (Prioritisation) Act 2026 implements the Government’s commitment in the 10-Year Health Plan to prioritise United Kingdom medical graduates for foundation training places, and to prioritise UK medical graduates and internationally trained doctors with significant National Health Service experience for specialty training places.

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

From 2027, immigration status will not automatically determine priority for specialty training. Instead, the act provides a power to specify in regulations any additional groups who will be prioritised by reference to criteria indicating significant experience as a doctor in the health service, or by reference to immigration status. The Department is working with NHS England, the devolved administrations, and other partners as part of the development of those regulations.

We recognise concerns about the impact of the act on those applying in the current application cycle for places, particularly where applicants did not know how prioritisation might affect them. However, delaying action would have prolonged the existing imbalance in training competition, and weakened our ability to plan a sustainable workforce.

International medical graduates who are not prioritised can still apply for postgraduate medical training and will be offered places if vacancies remain after prioritised applicants have received offers.