Edge Hill University granted additional funding to train more doctors

Edge Hill University has been granted new Government funding to create 13 extra medical places to train much-needed doctors.

Edge Hill University – one of the largest providers of healthcare education in the North West – has been preparing for an increase in places in the 2025/6 academic year to help address the shortage of doctors in the region.

The increase will ensure the University can continue to play a key role in helping the NHS deliver its Long Term Workforce Plan, which will see the biggest training expansion in its history over the next 15 years. 

Clare Austin, Pro Vice-Chancellor for Health, Social Care and Medicine, said:

 “We have great ambitions for our Medical School so I am delighted by this news.

“These additional places mean we can drive forward our commitment to develop a new generation of doctors who understand the needs of our local communities and can respond to, and deliver, new models of care.”

Currently, Edge Hill has 30 UK undergraduate medical places. An extra 20 announced in October will increase the number to 50 for the 2024/5 academic year; and the additional 13, the highest number awarded in the North West, announced this week brings the total to 63 for 2025/6.

Minal Singh, Director of the Medical School, added:

“Edge Hill is dedicated to widening access to higher education and this significant increase in places over the next couple of years will enable even more students who are under-represented in medicine to pursue their dreams of training to be doctors.”

Nationally, 350 extra medical school places have been allocated for the 2025/6 academic year as part of the Government’s pledge to double medial school places by 2031. The expansion is particularly targeting areas which have a shortage of doctors such as the North West.

However Edge Hill Vice-Chancellor Dr John Cater thinks more can be done to tackle the deepening NHS crisis and he has previously co-authored a policy proposal, entitled Student Loans Forgiveness, with Nuffield Trust and London Economics. 

He added:

“In my opinion, we should write off tuition fees for certain health professionals once they have completed 10 years of NHS service to recognise their commitment to public service and to stem a dropout crisis among nurses, midwives and other front-line staff.” 

Edge Hill offers a range of innovative programmes that meet the needs of the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan. Discover more about courses at one of the largest providers of health, social care and medicine education in the North West. 

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