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<p>The Government has committed to an extra 1,500 undergraduate medical school places
- a 25% increase taking the total number of medical school training places in England
to 7,500. The first 630 places were taken up in September 2018 with a further 690
places available in September 2019. The remaining additional 180 places will have
been made available by universities by 2020/21. By 2020, five new medical schools
will have opened in England to help deliver the expansion.</p><p>Following graduation
from medical school, eligible applicants are allocated a place on the United Kingdom
Foundation Programme.</p><p>The number of medical specialty training places that are
available each year is set by Health Education England and based on their assessment
of service gaps and predicted workforce needs.</p><p>The NHS Long Term Plan set out
the need to ensure a sustainable overall balance between supply and demand across
all staff groups. For doctors, it also focussed on reducing geographical and specialty
imbalances. Subsequently, the interim NHS People Plan set out the action we will take
now and over the long term to meet the challenges of supply, reform, culture and leadership,
and changes in demand for health care. Actions include reviewing what further expansion
in undergraduate medical places will be needed, in light of future plans made locally
by sustainability and transformation partnerships and integrated care systems; and
the establishment of a national programme board to address geographic and specialty
shortages in doctors.</p>
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