United Kingdom medical student expansion – Can new medical schools seize the initiative?

In June 2023, National Health Service (NHS) England published a Long-Term Workforce Plan ‘to put staffing on a sustainable footing and improve patient care.’ The plan falls in to three main areas: train, retain and reform. Currently there are around 7,500 medical school places available annually in England, but it is proposed to increase this to 10,000 by 2028 and to 15,000 by 2031. Five new medical schools were approved in the 2018 expansion and others are preparing applications in anticipation of future expansion. In this article, we discuss what factors might shape a new medical school, ensuring it meets the standards required by the UK regulator (General Medical Council) set out in Promoting Excellence and in Outcomes for Graduates.