THE FALL in early-career clinical academic numbers shows severe structural crisis, warns the British Medical Association.
The doctors’ union was responding to the results of the 2025 clinical academic survey published by the Medical Schools Council, which show a sharp fall in the number of early-career clinical academics – who are responsible for training newly qualified doctors.
BMA medical academic staff committee co-chairs Professor David Strain and Dr Jonathan Gibb said: ‘This survey shows the severe structural crisis affecting academic medicine.
‘In the space of just a year, the UK has lost a quarter of early-career doctors working as medical academics and this will have a knock-on effect on the health of the population.
‘It is medical academics who are responsible for teaching doctors of the future, developing treatments with the potential to improve millions of lives, and validating and delivering the innovation that is called for in the Government’s 10-Year Health Plan.
‘Since the publication of the 10 Year Health Plan, the Government’s strategy around how to tackle the crisis in medical academic workforce planning remains lacking and the next generation of Britain’s leaders in academic medicine are being lost.
‘Little action was taken following the widely unwelcome changes to the Specialised (formerly Academic) Foundation Programme imposed by NHS England, which moved from selection based on aptitude, interest and research experience towards preference informed allocation.
‘Since then, the Office for the Strategic Co-ordination of Health Research (OSCHR), in its report Clinical researchers in the United Kingdom: Reversing the decline to improve population health and promote economic growth, recommended a return to selection criteria, alongside targeted actions to support increasing the number of tenured early career posts.
‘The on-going Medical Education and Training Review now has an important opportunity to engage with clinical academics and put recommendations into practice.
‘Doctors are now being discouraged from academic careers in the UK, through personal financial penalties, and the job insecurity that has arisen from lack of willingness from governments across the UK to fund the pay awards for doctors working in medical schools properly.
‘At a time when we are facing a financial crisis in higher education, we cannot afford to lose some of our brightest graduates, historically responsible for up to 35% of university grant income, to international competitors.
‘Ignoring this will be catastrophic to the UK’s ability to remain globally competitive in research, innovation, and medical education.’
The Medical Schools Council said: ‘The number of clinical academics in medicine aged under 36 has fallen by 25% in a single year, raising concerns about the sustainability of the future clinical academic workforce.
‘New data from the Medical Schools Council show that the full-time equivalent (FTE) number of clinical academics under the age of 36 fell from 140 in 2024 to just 105 in 2025.
‘Although the overall number of clinical academics increased slightly in 2025, growth has not kept pace with NHS workforce expansion. This reflects a broader decline in the relative position of clinical academics within the medical workforce.
‘Despite increases in the wider consultant workforce, the proportion of consultants working as clinical academics has fallen to 3.2% in 2025, continuing a long-term decline from 4.7% in 2009.
‘Growth in the clinical academic workforce is increasingly being driven by senior academics, while the pipeline of future researchers is under increasing pressure.
‘The data raise concerns about the future capacity of the UK’s research and innovation workforce as the clinical academic population continues to age.
‘More than one-third (36.4%) of clinical academic FTE is now accounted for by individuals aged over 55, while the proportion of FTE held by professors has increased from 63.7% in 2024 to 65.5% in 2025.
‘Recognising the need for greater clarity and support for those considering a career in clinical academia, stakeholders across the sector recently launched the Clinical Academic Training & Careers Hub (CATCH).
‘The hub helps future academics navigate training pathways and access advice from clinical academics at different stages of their careers.’
Other key findings include:
- Clinical academics account for just 0.9% of the medical workforce below consultant level, unchanged from 2024 but down from a peak of 1.5% in 2015.
- GP clinical academics represent 0.7% of the GP workforce, a slight decrease from 2024, although remaining above pre-pandemic levels.
- The number of Asian clinical academics increased by more than 50 FTE (+10.4%) compared with 2024, while Black clinical academics continue to represent just 1% of the workforce.
- The proportion of clinical academics holding a Clinical Impact Award (CIA) continued to fall, from 28.5% in 2024 to 27.7% in 2025, compared with 55.3% in 2009.
- Among senior lecturers and readers, the proportion holding a CIA fell from 15.8% to 13.4% in a single year.
- Long-term declines in the proportion of clinical academics continue across several major specialties, including:
Obstetrics and Gynaecology (1.7%, down from 3.5% in 2006)
Paediatrics (2.6%, down from 5.3% in 2006)
Pathology (2.2%, down from 6.1% in 2006)
Physician specialties (4.7%, down from 7.7% in 2006)
Psychiatry (2.2%, down from 3.9% in 2006)
Surgery (1.2%, down from 2.3% in 2006)
- Clinical academic capacity has grown substantially across the devolved nations over the past decade, with increases of 34.1% in Scotland, 33.3% in Northern Ireland and 24.1% in Wales.
- The largest regional increases in England since 2016 were seen in Kent, Surrey and Sussex (+233%), the North West (+49.1%), the North East (+34.6%) and the East Midlands (+25%).
Dr Katie Petty-Saphon, Chief Executive of the MSC, said: ‘The Medical Schools Council has been collecting data on clinical academic numbers since 2003, and while we have seen some positive developments, one consistent challenge remains.
‘The number of clinical academics retiring continues to outpace those entering the profession.
‘Seeing a 25% fall in the number of early-career clinical academics in just 12 months is therefore deeply concerning.
‘We have listened to aspiring clinical academics about the barriers they face and we now need to focus on removing those barriers and ensuring clinical academia is seen as an attractive and fulfilling career option.
‘Too often, talented clinicians face bottlenecks at the start of their academic careers, whether through unclear training routes, limited access to research experience or challenges securing protected research time.
‘We need clearer and simpler pathways that provide the flexibility early-career clinicians need, while ensuring there are sufficient opportunities to support people as they develop.’
- The BMA at its Annual Representative meeting (ARM) in Brighton last week passed a motion calling on the government to protect public health consultants whose roles may be at risk.
BMA public health medicine committee chair Dr Heather Grimbaldeston, said: ‘Public health consultants are vital to the work of improving the health of local communities, protecting the health of the population as a whole and planning and designing health services.
‘Any reduction in their number risks undermining this essential work, with consequences for patients and the public and for the ability of the NHS to meet the demands placed on it.
‘As the government proceeds with the abolition of NHS England, the Department of Health and Social Care must learn the lessons of previous system reorganisations and ensure that crucial expertise is retained and Public Health remains an attractive career option for doctors.
‘This includes making sure that the Public Health speciality has the capacity to teach and train future generations of specialists and consultants.
‘The BMA will continue to press the Department of Health and Social Care to protect public health consultants whose roles may be at risk and to ensure parity of pay, terms and conditions for all public health consultants with their NHS
counterparts.’
