Medical schools training boost for region’s healthcare
Medical school leaders in the North East and Yorkshire have welcomed an increase in the number of places for students training to become doctors, which will help to improve the health and wellbeing of people in this region.
Earlier this year the government announced a substantial increase in the number of medical school training places at six universities in the North East and Yorkshire, from autumn 2025, including Sunderland (17 additional places) and Leeds (16 additional places).
The government’s Office for Students used analysis provided by NHS England to target under-doctored areas in its allocation of the medical training places. The expansion, which involves an additional 350 medical school places across England, is part of the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan.
Professor Scott Wilkes, Head of the School of Medicine at the University of Sunderland (pictured left), said: “We are delighted to have been awarded more medical school training places. It’s testament to delivering our philosophy of making medicine accessible to talented students who may not have otherwise had the opportunity to become a doctor.
“More importantly, they follow an innovative curriculum with a significant generalist focus to meet the needs of society including the ageing population with multiple long-term health conditions. We know that data shows medical students tend to work where they train or their families live and in role modelled medical specialties. For the North East that’s great news.”
Professor Mark Kearney, Executive Dean of the University of Leeds’ Faculty of Medicine and Health (right), said: “The University of Leeds is one of the best places in the UK to train as a doctor, and the ability to extend this opportunity further through an extra 16 funded medical school places is very welcome.
“Our goal is to ensure that the healthcare workforce of the future has the skills and resources to thrive in an increasingly challenging working environment. Being able to train more doctors in Leeds now will benefit the health and wellbeing of people across our city region in years to come, and we look forward to welcoming our expanded medical school cohort in 2025.”
The supportive comments of senior course leaders at two of the region’s medical schools come as young people in the North East and Yorkshire considering a career in healthcare finalise their undergraduate plans following publication of A Level results. For more information about working in health visit the NHS Careers website.
Overall, university medical schools in the North East and Yorkshire will offer an additional 52 student places in 2025-26. The other additional places are at Hull and York universities: 8; Newcastle upon Tyne: 2; and Sheffield: 9.
Professor Namita Kumar, Regional Postgraduate Dean for NHS North East and Yorkshire (left), said: “We are very proud of our strong working relationships with the medical schools in the North East and Yorkshire.
“The expansion signals the confidence stakeholders have in the region to deliver these doctors which we will do collectively. This will be good news for our patients and communities as we continue to try to support the healthcare needs of our region.”
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan sets out an ambition to train more doctors in England than ever before – growing the number of medical school places from 6,000 to 7,500 per year nationally.
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