We ask the Government to urgently reform NHS clinical training recruitment to prioritise UK medical graduates and restrict IMG eligibility to those who already hold GMC registration and have at least two years of NHS experience, in line with the BMA's proposed grandfather clause.

NHS training posts (e.g. GP, Internal Medicine) are not workforce recruitment. They are structured, time-limited clinical training programmes that include workplace-based assessments, postgraduate exams (like MRCGP), and supervision — leading to a Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT). These are clearly defined as paid educational opportunities, not jobs.

Even the NHS clearly states this:

“To become an independent general practitioner in the UK, you must successfully complete GP Specialty Training (GPST)... normally includes 18 months in an approved training practice... and tailored to your needs and progress.”
(Source: HEE GP Training Basics)
Despite this, NHS England and recruitment hubs promote these training posts as job roles, using phrases like “Apply to become a GP” and publishing a “recruitment timeline.” This creates a misleading impression that GP training is open workforce recruitment — when in reality, it is a taxpayer-funded training pathway for future doctors.

If the NHS wants to recruit doctors, it can hire Trust Grade doctors or consultants through open immigration. But clinical training posts should not be used as immigration pathways, displacing UK graduates who trained within the system and contributed through taxes.

As a UK graduate, I achieved a competitive MSRA score of 502. Yet I was rejected from training. Meanwhile, an International Medical Graduate (IMG) who scored just **one point higher — 503 — and has never worked in the UK, never trained in the NHS, and never even been to the UK, was offered the post.

This is unfair to UK graduates and taxpayers. Our publicly funded education system is being sidelined in favour of international entry via loopholes. These are not NHS jobs — they are training pathways, and they should prioritise those who were trained here first.

NHS training posts are paid clinical education, not jobs. They are meant to train UK medical graduates through supervised learning, exams, and structured assessments. However, the NHS is now misusing immigration exemptions to offer these posts globally — treating them as workforce recruitment, without proper distinction.

We are not against IMG recruitment, but clinical training posts should be reserved for UK graduates or, at minimum, only open to IMGs with GMC registration and at least two years of NHS experience — as the BMA recommends.

The NHS must stop blurring training with recruitment. Publicly funded training should benefit UK graduates first — not be handed to overseas applicants who have never contributed to the system.

We ask Parliament to restore fairness and clarity in NHS clinical training recruitment