§ Dr. FoxTo ask the Secretary of State for Health how many medical students in universities in 1997 were expected to qualify in the period 1998 to 2002. [27230]
§ Margaret HodgeI have been asked to reply.
The available data are given in the table. Figures for the number of medical students graduating in 2002 will be available in January 2003.
Students on, first degree medical courses1 in HE institutions in the UK Number Students enrolled in 1997–982 24,360 of which, those graduating in: 1998 5,160 1999 4,910 2000 5,160 2001 5,160 1 Includes home domiciled and overseas students on clinical and pre-clinical medical courses. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10. 2 Census count as at 1 December 1997. Following a review of the medical workforce, published in December 1997 which recommended that the intake to medical schools in the UK should be increased by 1,000 a year, and the commitments made in the Year 2000 NHS Plan, the number of places available to study medicine will increase to almost 5,900 by 2006—an increase of some 2,150 over 1997 levels.