23 February 2026
Junior hospital doctors outside the Conservative conference, Manchester, 2023. Photo Workers.
Despite earlier promises, it looks like the Labour government no longer plans to double the number of medical school places by 2032.
In 2023, the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan set a goal of doubling the number of medical school places to 15,000 by 2031-32. Labour in opposition supported the goal and, of course, claimed in the run-up to the 2024 general election to be the party to defend the NHS.
But it is preparing a new NHS ten year workforce plan that will quietly aim for a smaller number of students. And unlike with some of its U-turns, the government is keeping quiet about this one.
‘The number of medical students is far below the planned trajectory.’
An article in the British Medical Journal has uncovered the real state of affairs. It reports that the number of students admitted in 2025-26 and for 2026-27 is far below the planned trajectory for the increase in the NHS plan. When put on the spot by the BMJ, the Department of Health and Social Care refused to commit to the goal of 15,000.
Illusion
The number of actual funded student places this year is the same as last year. Medical schools were given exemptions to take an extra 670 international students, creating an illusion of an increase in NHS student numbers.
These places for international students actually cost the NHS for student placements, but they do help to balance university budgets!
Critical
The 2023 announcement was critical for some of the newer medical schools which were developed to accommodate the increase. For example, Three Counties Medical School at the University of Worcester opened in 2024. It would be happy to accept up to 50 more A level students, but no such funding is forthcoming.
This failure to work to fulfil the plan could threaten the viability of Worcester and other smaller medical schools such as Portsmouth, Hull and York. And it will leave the NHS short of doctors in future.
This is the sort of on/off workforce policy that has dogged the NHS for years. The 2023 plan was supposed to change that approach.