Government defends medical student number cap

Questions are being asked why the government is sticking to its cap on medical and dentistry places.

A shortage of doctors and other medical staff has been described as the biggest challenge facing the NHS.

But the number of places at UK medical schools are capped - in England this year there are 7,500 places.

England's Education Secretary James Cleverly told the BBC that you can't just "flick a switch" to increase the capacity to train more doctors.

Medicine is one of a handful of courses where numbers are limited by the government, because the cost is heavily subsidised.

In 2020 and 2021 the government lifted the cap on numbers, which last year led to more than 10,000 places being accepted.

But this year the cap in England is being reintroduced.

Mr Cleverly told the BBC that the nature of highly technical, vocational courses like medicine meant increasing the number of places was far from straightforward.

"To increase those numbers you would also need to increase the capacity in training institutions, both in universities and in hospitals.

"It is not something you can just flick a switch and significantly increase the capacity to train.

"The increases have got to be funded, they are technical and expensive courses and we need to understand the balance of requirements between these courses and other courses that the government is supporting financially."

There is an added complication for those trying to win a place at medical school this year.

High demand in 2021 meant there were a number of students who had to defer starting their training until this year.

It has created a very competitive field for places this summer.

The government has increased the cap on places since 2017, but the Medical Schools Council is calling for a long-term increase in the number of medical school places to meet the demand in the NHS.

But there are good reasons for a cap on places existing.

Training doctors and dentists costs the government much more than students pay in fees.

Add to that the need for good quality clinical placements to be made available for students during their training and there is an in-built limit to what the system can cope with.

But the pressure caused by staff shortages in the NHS combined with the length of time it takes to train a fully qualified doctor - typically seven years - means this is an issue that will be around for some years to come.