Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry at Queen Mary University of London has been allocated an additional 32 new places for medical students, which will provide new opportunities for students from the local area.
The medical school was the only one in London to be awarded the additional places for 2019-20 by the Government. This followed a competitive bidding process that recognised Barts and The London's commitment to improving access for local students from a diverse range of backgrounds.
The Government prioritises medical schools that work closely with their local communities to help students from disadvantaged backgrounds become doctors, to widen access to medicine and ensure the profession reflects the population it serves.
Professor Anthony Warrens, Dean for Education at Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, said: "Outer east London has some of the highest levels of healthcare needs but critically low levels of healthcare staff and provision.
"By expanding opportunities for medical education in the area through an increase in medical places available to local students, we hope that there will be a significant boost in numbers of local primary care staff, as these new junior doctors remain within their communities following graduation.
"More than almost any other Russell Group university, Queen Mary has embedded itself within the local population and is already seen as the university of the East End. This announcement therefore fits closely with Queen Mary's values, aspirations and strategy."
The announcement from the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) brings the total number of places available at Barts and The London to 371 for 2019-20, and is in addition to the 23 additional places which were announced last year for the upcoming 2018-19 intake.
The Government's wider expansion of undergraduate medical training includes the addition of 1,500 places across the UK. 630 additional students will take up places on medical courses this September, bringing the total intake for 2018/19 to 6,701 - the highest on record.
Professor Madeleine Atkins, Chief Executive of HEFCE, said: "This significant expansion opens the door for many more students, including students from under-represented groups, to gain high-quality medical education and training.
"Following a rigorous competitive process, an ambitious portfolio of places has been allocated across both new and established medical schools which will offer innovative training and provision.
"Universities and colleges across the country play a vital role in supporting their local and regional communities. This initiative will provide highly-skilled professionals, many of whom will go on to serve communities in areas of greatest need."
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For more information, please contact:
Joel Winston
Public Relations Manager - Medicine and Dentistry
Queen Mary University of London
Tel: +44 (0)207 882 7943
Mobile: +44 (0)7970 096 188
j.winston@qmul.ac.uk
Notes to the editor
About Queen Mary University of London
Queen Mary University of London is one of the UK's leading universities with 23,120 students representing more than 160 nationalities.
A member of the Russell Group, we work across the humanities and social sciences, medicine and dentistry, and science and engineering, with inspirational teaching directly informed by our research. In the most recent national assessment of the quality of research, we were placed ninth in the UK amongst multi-faculty universities (Research Excellence Framework 2014).
As well as our main site at Mile End - which is home to one of the largest self-contained residential campuses in London - we have campuses at Whitechapel, Charterhouse Square, and West Smithfield dedicated to the study of medicine and dentistry, and a base for legal studies at Lincoln's Inn Fields.
Queen Mary began life as the People's Palace, a Victorian philanthropic project designed to bring culture, recreation and education to the people of the East End. We also have roots in Westfield College, one of the first colleges to provide higher education to women; St Bartholomew's Hospital, one of the first public hospitals in Europe; and The London, one of England's first medical schools.