Expansion of Undergraduate Medical Education: Government Response to Consultation

Impact on library policy/practice: 

The impact on specific library services depends on how the additional places are allocated, and whether the organisation is already a teaching trust and has the infrastructure in place to support medical students.

Any increase in medical student numbers though will have an impact on library services that support medical students, and this could be in the form of demand for additional library stock, IT facilities, space, and pressure for 24/7 opening. Although not stated in the response, student expectations have risen over time, and universities will be keen to get good results on the National Student Survey (NSS). Since some of the questions on the NSS relate to libraries, this could be a good argument for sufficient funding to ensure student demands can be satisfied as far as possible.

Source: Department of Health

Link to main document

Publication format: PDF

Date of publication: August 2017

Summary of driver: There will be an additional 1,500 undergraduate training places at medical schools in England within the next few years.

Key features of driver:

• The new places are for domestic students
• There will be an increase of 500 places at existing medical schools for the 2018 academic year
• A further 1,000 places will be allocated by a competitive bidding process for the 2019 academic year
• The bidding process for the extra 1,000 places will prioritise widened participation and geographical area such as coastal and rural areas, and will support general practice and other shortage specialities
• International students will be charged the full cost of their course from 2019

As well as the Government’s response, the document also includes some the results from the consultation divided into responses from individuals and responses from organisations.

Primary audience: HEE, higher education providers, undergraduate teams in NHS Trusts

Date last updated: September 2017

Due for review: September 2018

Group member responsible: JC

Tagged: Education and training, Medical education