Specialty Training Competition Ratios

Specialty Training Competition Ratios

In 2024 59,698 applications were made for the 12,743 specialty training posts available at CT1, ST1, ST3 and ST4 training level. An overall competition ratio of 4.68:1.

This marks an increase of 39.5% in the number of applications compared to 2023, when 42,794 applications were made. The number of posts has increased by 0.5% compared to 2023, when 12,680 posts were available.

Use the links below to view competition ratios for each specialty. Alternatively, scroll down this page for a table containing competition data for all specialties.

Run Through ST1 Specialties


Core CT1 Specialties


Higher Medical Specialties


Higher Specialties

Surgery:


Psychiatry:

 

Other Specialties Recruiting at ST3/ST4:


Competition Ratios by Year

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Notes

  1. Data taken from competition ratio pages available on the NHS England Specialty Training website: https://medical.hee.nhs.uk/medical-training-recruitment/ Each individual page was saved as a HTML file, imported into Excel, extraneous information was removed and the remaining data has been used to generate the table displayed on this page. The data included in these reports often excludes data from Scotland and Northern Ireland. Sometimes the data in the Medical Specialty Training reports differs to the data in the Scottish NHS Education for Scotland and Northern Ireland’s NIMDTA reports.
  2. Core Medical Training changed to Internal Medicine Training in 2020. For the purposes of this table the Core Medical Training data from 2013 to 2019 has been classed as Internal Medicine Training to allow for easier comparisons.
  3. Broad Based Training CT1 was described as a pilot from 2013 to 2014. It remains available as a CT1 specialty in Scotland, but is not always included in the NHS England Specialty Training website competition ratio statistics.  
  4. Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery ST1 was described as a pilot in 2014.
  5. Cardiothoracic Surgery ST1 Training was described as a pilot from 2013 to 2014. 
  6. From 2014 Anaesthetics CT1 also included ACCS Anaesthetics. The 2013 Anaesthetics CT1 data has been labelled as Anaesthetics (including ACCS Anaesthetics) to allow for easier comparisons.
  7. In 2013 Paediatrics ST1 was called Paediatrics and Child Health. It has been labelled as Paediatrics in this data to allow for easier comparisons.
  8. In 2020 Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery ST1 was labelled as “(Scotland Only)”. No data for this specialty is included in other reports. There may be other specialties that are available in Scotland or Northern Ireland that are excluded from this report. The fill rates reports include data for Scotland and Northern Ireland so may provide useful information, see the Fill Rates pages for more information.
  9. In 2022 the specialty training advertisements listed Internal Medicine Training as also including ACCS Internal Medicine. Previously this had included ACCS Acute Medicine. The data in this table has been updated to show Internal Medicine Training as also including ACCS Internal Medicine to reflect these changes in the training posts.
  10. If you have any comments, questions or corrections please complete the contact form.

Specialty Applications

This site provides data and information on the medical and dental specialty training application process to help doctors and dentists plan their applications to speciality training posts in the UK.