Following implementation of the Medical Training (Prioritisation) Act this year, just 1.8% of specialty training places were taken by non-priority groups, including those trained overseas, compared with 28% in 2025.

Nuffield Trust fellow, Lucina Rolewicz said: ‘There is no doubt that the new law has had a big impact in terms of strengthening the domestic training pipeline for doctors. The numbers show just how dramatically the rules introduced this year have shifted access to specialty training away from overseas-trained doctors and towards predominantly UK-trained doctors.'

The total number of specialty training applications increased more than five-fold in the decade to 2025, rising from around 16,500 to almost 85,000 applications annually. This growth was driven primarily by doctors trained overseas, whose applications increased more than thirteen-fold.

The cut in overseas doctors' places has occurred despite those in the non-priority group accounting for 51% of all applications in 2026. Only five of 16 medical specialties accepted places from non-priority candidates.

While acknowledging the short-term impact of the law, Rolewicz said its longer-term effects could be more problematic as future cohorts may decide that applying for UK specialty training is no longer a realistic route into the NHS, leaving specialties that have previously relied on overseas graduates, including general practice, psychiatry and obstetrics, particularly vulnerable.

The Government has committed to creating up to 4,500 additional specialty training places over the next three years.

Rolewicz added: ‘The question now is what this means for the NHS in the longer term. The NHS needs to make sure that prioritising homegrown doctors boosts the domestic workforce without reducing the overall supply of doctors and creating concerning staffing gaps.'