Six times as many new medical students from London as from north-east

There were more than six times as many students from London taking up places to study medicine and dentistry last year as there were from north-east England, analysis shows.

The figures come as the government and the profession push to expand the workforce, through measures such as opening new medical schools.

Press Association analysis of Ucas data shows that 245 students from the north-east took up places to study for medicine and dentistry degrees last year, compared with 1,585 from London.

These were the two regions accounting for the highest and lowest proportion of acceptances for the subject area.

Across all subject areas, five times as many students from London as from the north-east took up places on any degree course.

The analysis shows that in general just over one in five (21%) of all students taking up degree places last autumn were from the capital, while just 4% were from the north-east.

While some of this can be put down to variations in the population – London has around three times as many adults as the north-east – the difference is markedly larger in some subject areas. Some of the biggest disparities come in subjects that are likely to lead to high-flying careers, including medicine and dentistry, business and mathematical sciences.

Concerns have been raised in some quarters about opportunities for young people living in parts of the north of England. One charity said the data painted a “worrying picture of a consistent and pervasive regional divide” in university access.

Mita Dhullipala, co-chair of the British Medical Association’s (BMA) medical students’ committee, said: “With many areas across the country facing significant NHS staff shortages and many places struggling to attract and retain staff, more must be done to address the current disparities throughout the country in the number of those starting medical courses.”

In March, Jeremy Hunt announced that new medical schools were to open in Sunderland, Lancashire, Canterbury, Lincoln and Chelmsford, training student doctors from this September.

The move was part of a package of measures aimed at bringing more medics to areas that traditionally struggle to attract doctors. Previous research has shown that doctors tend to remain in the areas in which they trained.

The government has also announced plans for an extra 1,500 student doctors to be in training by 2020, with 6,701 medical students in total due to start their training this September.

Dhullipala said: “While the introduction of five new medical schools places, including one in the north-east, will go some way towards improving accessibility to medicine, there is also a need to address the additional obstacles that exist with a focus on widening participation.

“As well as providing the necessary funding and foundation programme training posts to accompany additional medical school places, more must be done to ensure that those with the potential to become a doctor are given the opportunity and support to do so.”

A Department of Health spokesman said: “Whilst the population in London means there will inevitably be a higher number of medical students, with our biggest-ever expansion to medical training places, 90% of new students will be based outside of London and almost a third in the north of England – supported by five brand new medical schools.

“The expansion also targets applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds to widen access to medicine and ensure even more talented students have the chance to become the NHS doctors of the future.”