Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask His Majesty's Government what is the number of doctors who have applied for specialty training across all 65 medical specialties in terms of (1) individual applicants, and (2) numbers of applications, in each of the past five years; and what is the number of training places available per year in the same time period.

The following table shows the total number of applications across all medical specialties for recruitment rounds from 2020 to 2024 in the United Kingdom, alongside the total number of posts available:

Source: NHS England, Medical Specialty Training Competition Ratios.

This data covers all round one and round two specialty training pathway programmes. The Department does not hold information on the number of individual, or unique, applicants that this comprises of. Data for individual specialties is published annually by NHS England and can be found on the NHS.UK website, in an online only format.

We are committed to training the staff we need to ensure patients are cared for by the right professional, when and where they need it. This is central to the vision in our 10 Year Plan.

We will ensure that the number of medical specialty training places meets the demands of the National Health Service in the future. NHS England will work with stakeholders to ensure that any growth is sustainable and focused in the service areas where need is greatest.