The Medical Training (Prioritisation) Act 2026 implements the Government’s commitment in the 10-Year Health Plan to prioritise United Kingdom medical graduates for foundation training places, and to prioritise UK medical graduates and other doctors with significant National Health Service experience for specialty training places. This year, at the point of primary allocation, there were more applicants for the 2026 Foundation Programme than places available. This meant that eligible non-prioritised applicants were placed on a national reserve list.

Five rounds of allocation from the reserve list took place between June and August 2026, resulting in 476 applicants being allocated to a Foundation School. Following the final allocation round on 12 August 2026, 188 applicants remained on the reserve list. There are no current plans to run any further rounds to allocate places from the reserve list, nor to fund any additional places on the UK Foundation Programme 2026.

We recognise the potential impact of prioritisation on applicants who are eligible for a foundation training place but do not receive one. The UK Foundation Programme Office aims to be as transparent as possible with affected applicants and provide guidance at every stage of the allocation process.

For individuals who did not secure a Foundation Year 1 post this year, there are alternative routes to pursuing a medical career in the UK. These include obtaining full General Medical Council (GMC) registration through other established GMC pathways, such as completing an approved internship in the country where they trained and then entering the UK healthcare system through applying to a locally employed doctor role or another non-training post.