The University of Chester is one of several places in the northwest set to benefit from government funding for additional medical school places.
The region is set to get 54 places, with five of those going to Chester, as part of 350 additional medical school places in England for the academic year 2025/26 to help deliver the future workforce the NHS requires.
As well as The University of Chester, Edge Hill University is to get 13 places, the University of Central Lancashire six places, Pears Medical School in Cumbria, eight places, Lancaster University, five, the University of Liverpool, thirteen and the University of Manchester, four places.
Welcoming the news, Councillor Simon Eardley, Conservative Parliamentary Candidate for Chester North and Neston said:
“I’m delighted that The University of Chester has, alongside others, been chosen to train the next generation of healthcare professionals.
“This demonstrates the government’s commitment to the NHS to ensure we have a dedicated workforce in place to boost care for patients, not just here in Chester, but across the country.”
Last year, the NHS set out its Long-Term Workforce Plan, backed by more than £2.4 billion in government funding. It outlines how the NHS will recruit and retain hundreds of thousands more staff over the next 15 years – delivering the biggest training expansion in the health service’s history.
One of the key commitments is doubling the number of medical school places in England to 15,000 by 2031 and levelling up the geographic training of places to help tackle unequal access to services.
In the next step to deliver this commitment, the Office for Students (OfS) has now allocated 350 places in the academic year 2025/26 to medical schools across the country.
Health and Social Care Secretary Victoria Atkins said:
“Thanks to the Government’s plan for a faster, simpler and fairer healthcare system, the NHS now has record funding, and a record number of doctors.
“I want to make sure that we will have the medical professionals we will need in the years ahead.
“That’s why we are delivering the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, and doubling the number of medical school places, so we can train the next generation of world-class doctors to offer patients the highest-quality care.”
