UK medical graduates continue to have much higher success rates in securing firstyear specialty and core training posts than doctors who qualified outside the UK, according to the GMC’s Workforce report 2025.  

The report shows that in the 2023/24 recruitment year, 69% of UK PMQ doctors applying for CT1/ST1 posts received an offer, compared with 23% of nonUK PMQ doctors. The GMC notes that while more international doctors are securing training places in absolute terms, their success rates remain far lower than those for UKtrained doctors.  

The UK success rate has been trending downward over a longer period, but from a higher starting point. The report says UK offer rates fell from 83% in 2014/15 to 69% in 2023/24. For nonUK applicants, the decline has been sharper in recent years: the report notes a high point in 2019/20 when 53% of nonUK applicants received offers, dropping to under a quarter by 2023/24.  

The data comes with an important caveat: these statistics relate to doctors applying, not the total number of applications, which are higher because candidates can apply to multiple posts. The report also notes it analyses offers made, not whether candidates ultimately accept offers, acceptance decisions can be influenced by multiple offers or other personal factors.  

Despite the stark gap, the report argues that policy discussion should be evidence-led and reflect how the system currently functions. The foreword references the UK Government’s intention to prioritise UK medical graduates for postgraduate training in England, warning that changes should be based on data and consider impacts on the wider workforce where service provision relies heavily on international doctors.  

The report adds that some specialties are particularly reliant on international trainees. It highlights general practice as a critical example, noting that half of 2024’s firstyear GP trainees qualified outside the UK.  

Why it matters: The offer-rate gap speaks to three connected pressures: 

1. Competition and career progression for UK graduates, as offer rates fall from historical highs. 
2. Fairness and transparency for international doctors who increasingly see training as a key motivator for migrating to the UK, yet face low success rates. 
3. Workforce sustainability, because international doctors help staff the NHS in locally employed roles and often later apply to training in programmes with lower competition ratios. If training ceases to be a realistic opportunity for nonUK doctors, the report argues, the UK risks removing a major driver of migration at a time when international doctors account for a large share of new licence holders.