Health education funding

Medical and dental maximum fundable limits

We limit the number of students on pre-registration medical and dental courses that we will count towards our funding allocations.

These limits recognise the very high cost of training for doctors and dentists and help ensure that unplanned growth on these courses does not divert OfS funding away from other priority activities and courses. They also support workforce planning in the NHS, enabling consistency between the numbers graduating and the number of foundation programme training places available.

Expansion of maximum fundable medical places for 2024-25

On 30 June 2023, the NHS published its Long Term Workforce Plan, which announced a planned increase in undergraduate student numbers for medicine and dentistry courses. The plan sets out proposed trajectories for growth in the number of doctors, dentists, nurses and other health professionals.

On 1 October, we received a letter from the Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education and the Minister of State for Health and Secondary Care, providing us with sufficient additional funding to increase the maximum fundable limits for home students by 205 medical training places for the academic year 2024-25.

After consideration and engagement with the higher education sector, we have allocated these additional places to five universities:

Universities	Increase to expected maximum medical intake for academic year 2024-25
Brunel University London	50
University of Central Lancashire	35
University of Chester	50
Edge Hill University	20
University of Worcester	50

For entry in 2023-24

The expected maximum intake shows the overall limit on the numbers that we will count for funding purposes, assuming all recruitment is of OfS-fundable students. However, within this overall limit, we also specify a separate limited allowance for overseas recruitment (should a provider wish to use it). Net recruitment beyond the overall limit (whether of OfS-fundable students or others), monitored over a rolling five-year period, will lead to a reduction to the student numbers we count for funding purposes for the following year.

	Expected maximum intake (home and overseas)		Anticipated home		Anticipated overseas
Institution	Medical	Dental	Medical	Dental	Medical	Dental
Anglia Ruskin University	100	-	100	-	-	-
Aston University	100	-	100	-	-	-
University of Birmingham	400	71	372	67	28	4
Universities of Brighton and Sussex	203	-	193	-	10	-
University of Bristol	270	71	251	67	19	4
University of Central Lancashire	15	29	15	28	-	1
University of Cambridge	313	-	291	-	22	-
University of East Anglia	208	-	195	-	13	-
Edge Hill University	30	-	30	-	-	-
University of Exeter	218	-	208	-	10	-
Universities of Hull and York	231	-	220	-	11	-
Imperial College	345	-	321	-	24	-
Keele University	164	-	154	-	10	-
Universities of Kent and Canterbury Christ Church	100	-	100	-	-	-
King’s College London	430	148	400	141	30	7
Lancaster University	129	-	125	-	4	-
University of Leeds	278	76	259	72	19	4
University of Leicester	290	-	272	-	18	-
University of Nottingham: Lincoln Medical School (in partnership with University of Lincoln)	80	-	80	-	-	-
University of Liverpool	332	72	309	68	23	4
University of Manchester	397	71	369	67	28	4
University of Newcastle	367	71	341	67	26	4
University of Nottingham	371	-	346	-	25	-
University of Oxford	200	-	186	-	14	-
University of Plymouth	156	58	150	55	6	3
Queen Mary, University of London	371	71	347	67	24	4
St George’s Hospital Medical School	279	-	260	-	19	-
University of Sheffield	306	71	288	67	18	4
University of Southampton	261	-	243	-	18	-
University of Sunderland	100	-	100	-	-	-
University College London	334	-	310	-	24	-
University of Warwick	193	-	180	-	13	-
Total	7,571	809	7,115	766	456	43

Archive

Target intakes for entry in 2022-23

	Intake target (home and overseas)		Anticipated home		Anticipated overseas
Institution	Medical	Dental	Medical	Dental	Medical	Dental
Anglia Ruskin University	100	-	100	-	-	-
Aston University	100	-	100	-	-	-
University of Birmingham	400	71	372	67	28	4
Universities of Brighton and Sussex	203	-	193	-	10	-
University of Bristol	270	71	251	67	19	4
University of Central Lancashire	15	29	15	28	-	1
University of Cambridge	313	-	291	-	22	-
University of East Anglia	208	-	195	-	13	-
Edge Hill University	30	-	30	-	-	-
University of Exeter	218	-	208	-	10	-
Universities of Hull and York	231	-	220	-	11	-
Imperial College	345	-	321	-	24	-
Keele University	164	-	154	-	10	-
Universities of Kent and Canterbury Christ Church	100	-	100	-	-	-
King’s College London	430	148	400	141	30	7
Lancaster University	129	-	125	-	4	-
University of Leeds	278	76	259	72	19	4
University of Leicester	290	-	272	-	18	-
University of Nottingham: Lincoln Medical School (in partnership with University of Lincoln)	80	-	80	-	-	-
University of Liverpool	332	72	309	68	23	4
University of Manchester	397	71	369	67	28	4
University of Newcastle	367	71	341	67	26	4
University of Nottingham	371	-	346	-	25	-
University of Oxford	200	-	186	-	14	-
University of Plymouth	156	58	150	55	6	3
Queen Mary, University of London	371	71	347	67	24	4
St George’s Hospital Medical School	279	-	260	-	19	-
University of Sheffield	306	71	288	67	18	4
University of Southampton	261	-	243	-	18	-
University of Sunderland	100	-	100	-	-	-
University College London	334	-	310	-	24	-
University of Warwick	193	-	180	-	13	-
Total	7,571	809	7,115	766	456	43

For previous years, see the UK government web archive:

2021-22 target intakes
2020-21: intake targets were removed for this academic year. See the press release from the Department for Education on Gov.uk.
2019-20 target intakes
2018-19 target intakes.

Last updated 05 February 2024 + show all updates

05 February 2024: Added information on expansion of maximum fundable medical places for 2024-25.
06 July 2023: Updated from target intakes to maximum fundable limits and added introductory detail.
09 February 2023: Targets updated for entry in 2023-24.
26 January 2022: Targets updated for entry in 2022-23.
29 September 2021: Intake target figures updated
01 June 2021: Targets updated for entry in 2021-22

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