For the first time, the number of female licensed doctors in the UK has surpassed the number of male doctors, according to the GMC’s Workforce report 2025.  

The report describes the shift as a major milestone, but notes that parity is not uniform across the UK. In 2024: 

• Scotland had a majority female workforce (55% female) 

• Northern Ireland was also majority female (53%) 

• England remained slightly below parity (49.7% female) 

• Wales also remained malemajority (47% female)  

The report suggests England and Wales are likely to follow Scotland and Northern Ireland in the near future, based on recent trends and the pipeline of new doctors entering the profession. 

A key driver is medical school intake. Since 2018/19, there have been more female than male medical students across all four UK countries. The report states that 61% of the 2024/25 UK medical student intake were female, with Scotland the highest at 64%.  

The report also notes that men make up a larger share of doctors relinquishing their licence. In 2024, 54% of doctors who left were male, linked to the fact that more male doctors are retiring. Among those who left and cited retirement as their main reason, 58% were male.  

Parity overall, imbalance within: The GMC emphasises that gender balance varies sharply by register group: 

• Specialist register: 40% female 

• GP register: 58% female 

• Doctors in training: 58% female 

• Neither register (not in training): 47% female  

Specialty-level splits remain even more uneven. Among specialists in 2024: 

• Obstetrics and gynaecology: 63% female 

• Paediatrics: 61% female 

• Surgery: 17% female 

• Ophthalmology: 35% female 

• Emergency medicine: 37% female  

The report highlights modest progress in some historically maledominated specialties: from 2023 to 2024, the number of female doctors in emergency medicine grew by 8%, surgery by 5%, and ophthalmology by 4%.  

Why it matters: For workforce planners, the shift to overall parity changes the baseline assumptions about training design, flexible working, leadership pipelines and specialty recruitment. The report suggests the workforce is changing not only in size but also in composition and that decisions about training, retention and job design must reflect that reality.