The government has decided to end a medical apprenticeship program that allowed low-income students to get medical training without taking out loans.
The scheme, launched under the previous Conservative government in 2023, aimed to make the profession more accessible, diverse, and representative of local communities.
Apprentices were paid a salary that rose from £14,606 in their first year to £22,038 in their final year, equivalent to almost £94,000 across their five years of study.
To earn their salary, apprentices were expected to work up to 15 weeks per year onwards in their local NHS trust alongside their study with undergraduate students at university.
However, universities were told last month that the scheme is to be “paused in perpetuity” and to cancel plans to recruit new apprentices for next September.
This comes after Sir Keir Starmer announced his government would pull funding for all apprenticeships at a master’s-level at the Labour party conference in September.
Under Conservative plans, the scheme was to be expanded to 200 apprenticeships in its second year with 2,000 offered by 2031-32.
Concerns were raised that the scheme could create a “two-tier system” with apprentice degrees seen as “lesser”.
The British Medical Association questioned whether a programme could be created that balanced the needs of the apprenticeship with the “same high standards of training experienced by traditional medical students.”
NHS bosses maintained that apprentices would have to pass the same exams as other medical students and meet all other criteria to qualify as a doctor as set out by the General Medical Council.
