IMGs outside the priority group got 4% of specialty training posts in 2026, despite making up half of all applicants

Why they were still half the applicants

Chances are it's the timing. Applications closed in November 2025, and the Prioritisation Act only became law in March 2026, so it's very unlikely it changed who applied much. But it did change who got in: applicants in the priority group who were appointable were offered posts first, so IMGs outside it only got the posts that were left.

Where they got in

Internal medicine training took the most by far, 243, which is 14% of its posts. Core psychiatry had 8,344 applicants from outside the priority group, and 1 got a post. GP had 13,717, and 33 got in. Cardiothoracic surgery took 2, and emergency medicine in Northern Ireland and broad based training in Scotland took 1 each, so 10 programmes took any at all. The other 11 took none, including anaesthetics, clinical radiology, ophthalmology and neurosurgery.

IMGs in the priority group

Not every IMG is outside the priority group. Doctors who didn't graduate from a UK medical school got another 2,323 posts through it, by having done the UK Foundation Programme, being British citizens, having settled status or another of the Act's routes. So all together, doctors who trained outside the UK got about 2,750 posts, around 1 in 4 of those covered by prioritisation.

Northern Ireland took the most

Northern Ireland gave 11.5% of its posts to IMGs outside the priority group, the most of any nation, including 35 of its 71 internal medicine training posts.

For 2027

If you're applying for August 2027, Round 1 closes on Thursday 19 November 2026, and the 2027 priority group still goes by immigration status rather than NHS experience. And priority now applies when interviews are offered as well as posts.