PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
(5 March 2026)

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many medical students graduated from UK universities in each of the last five years; and how many doctors completed foundation training in each of the last five years.

Asked by:
Cat Eccles (Labour)

Data published by the General Medical Council (GMC) provides information on the number of doctors with a United Kingdom Primary Medical Qualification (PMQ) by year. The following table shows the number of doctors graduating from UK medical schools in each of the last five years who then registered with the GMC:

PMQ Year	Total
2020	7,381
2021	7,356
2022	7,810
2023	8,279
2024	9,261
2025	9,734

Source: General Medical Council, UK graduates summary data, with further information available at the following link:
https://gde.gmc-uk.org/medical-schools/uk-graduates/uk-graduates-summary-data
Note: total represents the total number of doctors with a UK Primary Medical Qualification in that year who went onto register with the GMC.

Medical graduates complete a two-year Foundation Programme following graduation from medical school. Successful completion of the programme occurs at the end of Foundation Year Two (F2). Data on the number of doctors completing foundation training is published by the GMC through its Education Data Tool. Successful completion of foundation training is interpreted as completion of F2.

The following table shows data published by the GMC on the number of doctors completing F2 in each of the last five years:

Foundation Two Year	Number of F2 doctors
2019	7,195
2020	7,379
2021	7,686
2022	7,655
2023	7,591

Source: General Medical Council, Education Data Tool Progression Reports, with further information available at the following link:
https://edt.gmc-uk.org/progression-reports/recruitment-from-f2

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