Following a government announcement, 350 additional medical school places in England have been approved for the academic year 2025/26, with 77 places allocated to the South East of England.

This is the latest step from the Government to deliver the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan. Published in June 2023, the plan sets out an ambition to double the number of medical places by 2031/32, which would take the total number of places to study medicine to 15,000 per year.

Professor Chris Holland, Founding Dean of KMMS, said: “We had always planned to expand once we had delivered our first full programme (Summer 2025) so are delighted to have this small increase in student numbers ahead of this date.”

KMMS, a joint initiative between the University of Kent and Canterbury Christ Church University, opened in September 2020 with 103 students. It is the first medical school in the region, and was the only medical school in the UK to open during a global pandemic, with many staff working on the front line for the NHS. It is now growing and thriving, with the aim of supporting the healthcare needs of local communities in Kent and Medway.

Further information regarding the announcement can be found on the Government website.

Notes to editors

• Within the expansion process, there was an indicative pre-allocation of places that considered capacity and the need to expand the medical workforce. A significant number were therefore allocated to the new medical schools in Portsmouth and Guildford.