DATA
Competition ratios by specialty and year
Applications, posts and the resulting ratio, straight from the official NHS England figures. Every row links its source and shows when we last checked it.
Ratios count applications, not people. Published ratios count applications, not people. The average applicant applies to about 2.4 specialties, so ratios overstate how hard each one really is. Source · checked 2026-08-17
Pre-2026 figures overstate today’s competition. UK law changed in March 2026 and again in June 2026 (the Medical Training Prioritisation Act): UK-trained doctors are now prioritised and application counts are capped, which roughly halved effective competition for them and added thousands of posts. Figures from before 2026 are not comparable and overstate today's competition. NHS England announcement
| Specialty | Year | Applications | Posts | Ratio | Cut-off | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plastic Surgery (ST3) ST3 | 2025 | 281 | 42 | 6.69 | — | NHS England checked 17/08/2026 |
| Paediatrics (ST3) ST3 | 2025 | 507 | 49 | 10.35 | — | NHS England checked 17/08/2026 |
| General Surgery (ST3) ST3 | 2025 | 834 | 161 | 5.18 | — | NHS England checked 17/08/2026 |
| Core Surgical Training CT1 | 2025 | 5,399 | 630 | 8.57 | — | NHS England checked 17/08/2026 |
| Internal Medicine Training CT1 | 2025 | 8,841 | 1,678 | 5.27 | — | NHS England checked 17/08/2026 |
| Paediatrics (ST1) ST1 | 2025 | 2,680 | 476 | 5.63 | — | NHS England checked 17/08/2026 |
| Clinical Radiology (ST1) ST1 | 2025 | 4,011 | 356 | 11.27 | — | NHS England checked 17/08/2026 |
| Trauma & Orthopaedics (ST3) ST3 | 2025 | 684 | 150 | 4.56 | — | NHS England checked 17/08/2026 |
| Histopathology (ST1) ST1 | 2025 | 985 | 104 | 9.47 | — | NHS England checked 17/08/2026 |
| Histopathology (ST1) ST1 | 2024 | 600 | 119 | 5.04 | — | NHS England checked 17/08/2026 |
| Internal Medicine Training CT1 | 2024 | 6,273 | 1,698 | 3.69 | — | NHS England checked 17/08/2026 |
| Paediatrics (ST1) ST1 | 2024 | 1,583 | 479 | 3.30 | — | NHS England checked 17/08/2026 |
| Clinical Radiology (ST1) ST1 | 2024 | 3,719 | 312 | 11.92 | — | NHS England checked 17/08/2026 |
| General Surgery (ST3) ST3 | 2024 | 681 | 181 | 3.76 | — | NHS England checked 17/08/2026 |
| Paediatrics (ST3) ST3 | 2024 | 445 | 63 | 7.06 | — | NHS England checked 17/08/2026 |
| Plastic Surgery (ST3) ST3 | 2024 | 264 | 61 | 4.33 | — | NHS England checked 17/08/2026 |
| Trauma & Orthopaedics (ST3) ST3 | 2024 | 522 | 164 | 3.18 | — | NHS England checked 17/08/2026 |
| Core Surgical Training CT1 | 2024 | 3,384 | 645 | 5.25 | — | NHS England checked 17/08/2026 |
| Paediatrics (ST3) ST3 | 2023 | 340 | 57 | 5.96 | — | NHS England checked 17/08/2026 |
| Core Surgical Training CT1 | 2023 | 2,539 | 609 | 4.17 | — | NHS England checked 17/08/2026 |
| Histopathology (ST1) ST1 | 2023 | 380 | 109 | 3.49 | — | NHS England checked 17/08/2026 |
| Internal Medicine Training CT1 | 2023 | 4,406 | 1,670 | 2.64 | — | NHS England checked 17/08/2026 |
| Clinical Radiology (ST1) ST1 | 2023 | 3,068 | 350 | 8.77 | — | NHS England checked 17/08/2026 |
| General Surgery (ST3) ST3 | 2023 | 515 | 162 | 3.18 | — | NHS England checked 17/08/2026 |
| Plastic Surgery (ST3) ST3 | 2023 | 220 | 52 | 4.23 | — | NHS England checked 17/08/2026 |
| Trauma & Orthopaedics (ST3) ST3 | 2023 | 483 | 160 | 3.02 | — | NHS England checked 17/08/2026 |
| Paediatrics (ST1) ST1 | 2023 | 1,231 | 506 | 2.43 | — | NHS England checked 17/08/2026 |
| Paediatrics (ST3) ST3 | 2022 | 301 | 24 | 12.54 | — | NHS England checked 17/08/2026 |
| Trauma & Orthopaedics (ST3) ST3 | 2022 | 527 | 142 | 3.71 | — | NHS England checked 17/08/2026 |
| Clinical Radiology (ST1) ST1 | 2022 | 2,231 | 361 | 6.18 | — | NHS England checked 17/08/2026 |
| Paediatrics (ST1) ST1 | 2022 | 1,075 | 458 | 2.35 | — | NHS England checked 17/08/2026 |
| Internal Medicine Training CT1 | 2022 | 4,008 | 1,639 | 2.45 | — | NHS England checked 17/08/2026 |
| Histopathology (ST1) ST1 | 2022 | 286 | 112 | 2.55 | — | NHS England checked 17/08/2026 |
| Core Surgical Training CT1 | 2022 | 2,302 | 622 | 3.70 | — | NHS England checked 17/08/2026 |
| Plastic Surgery (ST3) ST3 | 2022 | 205 | 42 | 4.88 | — | NHS England checked 17/08/2026 |
| General Surgery (ST3) ST3 | 2022 | 532 | 153 | 3.48 | — | NHS England checked 17/08/2026 |
Empty cut-off cells mean no published figure exists for that specialty and year — Docrr never estimates one. Competition figures contain public sector information from NHS England, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
Know the ratio. Now know your score.
The ratio tells you how many people are applying. Your self-assessment score decides whether you get the interview. Docrr scores your portfolio live against the published rubric for your specialty.